More About Oma

This morning I was cooking potatoes for the boys to take on their camping trip and it reminded me of being in the kitchen with my grandmother, who I called Oma. There are so many things I learned from her that there isn't a day that goes by when I'm not reminded of one thing or another. She was my mother for all intent and purposes.

I learned you should never cover starch when it is cooking, and that is what made me think of her today. Also, when I drained the water from the boiled potatoes I remembered how our glasses would always fog up when we did the same thing and how we would laugh and laugh about it. Some of my best memories of my childhood revolve around being in the kitchen with my grandmother and great-grandmother, who I called Grandma Markses, although her name was Marks.

Our life was so simple and straightforward until my grandmother got sick. My grandfather was retired so our days revolved around working in the garden or going for drives, sitting and eating all of our meals together at the dining room table. There wasn't any hustle and bustle of getting here or there, although they were great about all of the activities I was in and making sure they were always there to see me play softball, volleyball, basketball, tennis and swimming. They allowed me to be a part of anything I wanted to be and enjoyed every minute of being spectators.

When my grandmother got cancer, life drastically changed. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't be a part of my daily life anymore, she needed to conserve her energy to fight the disease taking over her body. It was a battle she ultimately lost.

I miss her so much there aren't words to describe the feeling I get when I think of her. Every day I wish she was here and that my boys had the opportunity to know her.