Grandma Monie

A little over a month ago my Grandma went to be with Our Lord. Her funeral weekend was a celebration of her love; the intense love for all of her family, and for her Savior with whom she is now living painlessly and eternally. My cousins and I enjoyed the time together reminiscing our dear Grandma Monie, sorting through decades of photos, and playing a run of canasta games in her name. cousins around the canasta table

Grandma was a lifelong resident of Ellsworth, Kansas. She was homecoming queen, a navy bride to her high school sweetheart, a mother to five girls, and the 'perfect' grandma to 9 of us plus 4 great-grandchildren. There was never a time in Grandma's presence where we all didn't feel like her top priority. Her trademarks include kisses so big they ate our cheeks off, teaching us all the right way to cheat in a variety of card games, and specialty foods like creamed cucumbers and chicken n' noodles. Passed along through our family and also through the town of Ellsworth were legendary "Monie Stories"...a lot of them...Grandma liked to prove dumb blonde jokes true without even trying; but she was the first to laugh and share with everyone else what embarrassing thing she'd done.

The Wallert Girls
It is very hard to think that family holidays will never be the same. Grandma and Grandpa both passed away within a year (and were reunited just in time for their 60th anniversary). Their love to our family was so strong, and I'm so thankful to have them in my life for over 25 years.