happy birthday george leon

Today is not only Groundhog Day, it is also my great-grandfather’s birthday. This tiny man who was about 5′ tall was a giant of man in my eyes. I grew up running a little grocery store in a little town in the middle of nowhere and I was related to at least half of the town’s residents. My great-grandfather was known by everyone and we were expected to live up to his goodness. He lived a few houses down from our grocery store and I always delivered his groceries to his house and put them away for him. He would take me out back and invite me to play shuffleboard on his personal cement slab in the backyard or show me one of his latest quilt creations. I knew I was somebody because I was his great-grandchild (one of hundreds, I might add). He was often featured in a 24th of July parade for being the oldest resident of our town or his name would be brought up in church as an example of service, missionary work, longevity, or just down-home goodness.

I remember people coming into the store and saying “You’re one of those Rollins’ aren’t you? You make sure you live up to that name!” and I would beam with pride and vow to be a good girl.

My great-grandfather lived till he was 103. He was full of faith, kindness, humor, a love of games, and lots of pairs of denim overalls till the end of his days. He served seven missions for his church and worked hard serving his family and community his entire life. He served in World War 1. In fact, he was gone serving in the army when my grandmother was born.

As I think of him on this day, I remember his love for Jesus Christ and how he tried diligently to instill that love in each of his descendants. I am so grateful to be part of his family, to have known him, served him, and loved him.

After our home burned down, he sent us one of his quilts he had tied and a check for $500. My grandma always told me he felt so sorry for us and immediately made up his mind to help the best way he could at the ripe old age of 101. I love that quilt and hope it never wears out.

Happy Birthday Grandpa.

I am still trying to live up to your name.

p.s. Tami gave birth to her 8th baby early this morning…on grandpa’s birthday! I am rooting for a middle name of Leon. His first name is Jace. Doesn’t Jace Leon Lyman sound great?! I’ll let you know what they decide.

book bonanza – grammar help

My friend, Nancy, has a talented son-in-law, who has written a hilarious, easily understandable grammar book. It is called I Laid an Egg on Aunt Ruth’s Head. I just read the two sample chapters online tonight and I can already tell I will need to buy this book. I love it!

The author has this to say:

Whether she is flying a fighter jet, outwitting a dangerous bank robber, walking a tightrope with her pet elephant Binky, or traveling to sixteenth century Italy in a time machine, Aunt Ruth takes the reader on one adventure after another. During the course of her adventures, Aunt Ruth encounters and struggles with myriad grammatical and usage difficulties with the English language. In a clean, humorous, and family friendly style, Joel Schnoor’s stories will leave you rolling on the floor and will answer those nauseating English questions at the same time.

There is a separate workbook for those of you that love things like that:

Each chapter in I Laid an Egg on Aunt Ruth’s Head is represented with one or more pages of questions and exercises in Aunt Ruth Grammar Drills for Excellence. The answers to the questions are (of course) provided as well. These worksheets are fun, entertaining, and thorough.

Aunt Ruth Grammar Drills for Excellence ships as a PDF file on a CD or as a set of printed sheets (looseleaf, 3-hole punched). This item may not be resold.

Buy one CD or one set of printed sheets for the family and make as many copies as you need (for use within the family). Teachers, buy one for your classroom and make copies for your class.

Until I save up my pennies to buy this book, I will be enjoying the author’s blog with his posts on all things grammatical.

For those of you looking for a fabulous punctuation read, check out Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. It is one of my favorite books and writing this blog makes me realize I need to re-read it to remind myself of all those punctuation rules.