Grandma Beck
My maternal grandmother, Laureen Ann Beck, passed away recently. We had a memorial service for her yesterday, filled with family and friends. Here are the reflections of her that I shared at the service. Grandma Beck was a wonderful woman. Whenever I think of her, the first thing that comes to mind is her warmth. The fullness of her laugh. The tightness of her hugs. The fondness in her eyes as she looked at her husband, her daughters, and her grandkids. The second thing that comes to mind is her ruthlessness when it came to beating the pants off all of us when playing family board games. She had a wit sharp as anything — you had to in order to keep up with Grandpa — and deployed it masterfully. Once we knew the rules, Grandma didn’t give an inch whether we were playing Sorry , UNO , or Parcheesi . Parcheesi is still my favorite board game to this day, precisely because it still brings a smile to my face thinking back on the many evenings spent at the kitchen table at the Lake House — and how we used to beg Grandma to take it easy on us, and how we’d then laugh and laugh when she wouldn’t. To be fair, we never went easy on her, either. Heading down to Colon to see Grandma and Grandpa was always a treat growing up. Partly because it meant getting out of the normal routine and spending time with family that we didn’t see all that often. Partly because I loved getting out on the water, speeding along in the boat, on skis, or getting jetted out of the water tube when my Dad, Aunt Bobbi, or Grandpa were driving. But it was also a favorite time because of the food. Grandma always made a point of cooking our favorite meals when we were visiting. For me, of course, that was spaghetti. Her recipe is still the one that I love most in the world. I remember back when I was 8 or 9 years old and was spending some time with Grandma and Grandpa by myself for a few days, I was a little nervous to be that far from home on my own. But as soon as I walked in the front door and smelled the spaghetti simmering on the stove, I knew it was going to be a great time. She had remembered, and that meant so much to me. Now, I’ve never been one to love cooking, but when we were at the Lake House as a family, all the grandkids helped in the kitchen — and Grandma made it fun learning how to cook new dishes. Whether it was a grand Thanksgiving feast stretched across the dining room table, or simple sandwiches in the kitchen after getting off the water, mealtimes brought all of us together, which you could tell was always Grandma’s favorite time. She sure loved us, and made sure we felt it. But what I especially enjoyed was learning how to make pies from scratch with her and my mom. Pressing, kneading, and stretching the fresh dough took patience and skill. Two things that I didn’t have right away, which was frustrating, but still okay because Grandma never made us feel bad about not getting it quite right, and we got to eat the scraps of dough that didn’t make the cut for the crust. And then I could practice the next time — make it a little faster, a little tastier, with a little fancier weave on top. When I think about slowly getting better at a skill over a long period of time — something that I teach frequently in my career — I think about baking pies in that kitchen. Still, I never got the hang of crimping the edge quite as well as Grandma could. In her later years, the thing I enjoyed most when talking with Grandma was about the books she was reading. Grandma’s always been a voracious reader, but when she started listening to more audiobooks, it felt more like a shared activity. I’ve always adored listening to stories, and stayed up waaaaay too late listening to tape after tape of Harry Potter at the lowest volume possible on my bedroom boombox growing up. Talking to Grandma about all the different books she picked up from the library gave me a better appreciation for the breadth of her personal interests — and I was always tickled when a book she enjoyed overlapped with one that I liked too. It’s how I’ve enjoyed picturing her these last few years as mobility became more challenging — comfortable in her chair, eyes closed, but face obviously intent, listening to the next story. It’s what she’s probably doing now. Spending long-awaited quality time with Grandpa — telling and listening to stories of her family. I loved her, and I’ll miss her. As I know we all will. But we’ll remember her, each in our own way. For me, it’ll be when I eat spaghetti or bake a pie, when I start a new audiobook, or when I break out Parcheesi — which I brought with me in case anyone is up for a round later. I won’t go easy on you, because Grandma sure wouldn’t. HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .
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