There are three things I am always given compliments for in my teaching.

My visual aids, my
metaphors, and my abstractness. I wanted to include all of these things in my message today.
And like any good teacher I brought my lesson plan.
I decided to talk about four stories today that culminate in one message and to help structure
these stories I used the wedding saying “Something old, something new, something borrowed,
and something blue”.
First something old, now this Dr. Pepper is new but the story that goes with it is old. When I
was young my grandma and I had this tradition of going to the spot café every Saturday. We
would sit and chat about the week’s events and other miscellaneous topics that I cannot even
remember. But every Saturday we went, and every Saturday we would order the same thing.
We’d walk in 8 or 9 in the morning and she’d get a coffee and a cinnamon roll and I would get a
Dr. Pepper and scrambled eggs. This tradition went on for so long that our waitress no longer
even needed to take our orders. We would find our regular spot and she would bring us our
regular drinks and our regular orders. Every Saturday we would change who paid so we could
equally split the bills.
Now for something new. Two days before she passed, I brought my bassoon into the care
center to get to play for her and I played here favorite song “How great thou art”. By this point
she was unresponsive to pretty much everything. She just layed in bed unable to even open
here eyes. But when I started to play that oh so familiar melody you could see here body twist
and her eyes open for a second. I could tell she could hear me even if she could not say that she
did. The power of music is beyond that of illnesses and diseases. She truly loved it and I share
her passion for music.
The something borrowed is a story my mom told me and it’s about her favorite color. You
picture grandma Juanita and you always picture her in those red coats and red cardigans so you
would assume that red was her favorite color. And she did really enjoy red, but perhaps not for
the reasons you think. Red was a staple of grandma because once long ago grandpa derald told
her she looked good in red. From then on red was her color, but was not her favorite. Her
favorite color was actually purple.
And finally for the something blue. I brought with me a stuffed animal that I got long ago when I
was with grandma Juanita. We passed one of the claw machines in what was then Hellings
Grocery store and she gave me a quarter and I won this animal. From then on this animal has
always sat in my room. From living in town, moving to the country, and then moving to
Moorhead they animal came with me. It was always a reminder of the love she shared for me
and the time we spent together.
Now what do these four stories have in common. Well these four stories depict four memories
or four instant’s that will forever be with me. That is what life is made up of. Life is made of the
moments that we share with ourselves and one another. For me I’ll always remember grandma
Juanita as the kindest person I’ve ever met. She always ensured that everyone was fed,
everyone was clothed, everyone was clean, and everyone was well taken care of. She put
others far above and beyond herself. It was never about her.
We’ve all created these moments in our lives with those we care for and those moments shape
us and define us. I am who I am because of Grandma Juanita and I wouldn’t change that for
anything. She supported me no matter what my dreams and passions. She supported everyone
in this room no matter your dreams or passions. “Unless someone like you care a whole awful
lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”