HOUSEKEEPING
Hi guys! So March proved to be a crazy month for me. I had all the Shazam nonsense which took up way too much of my time and energy which you can read about here. It all seems to be calming down which I am grateful for but I still had all of my content to keep up with and I was trying to revamp my channel art while all this was going. I’m really proud of my channel right now and think it looks very professional. Check it out. I also had some really cool experiences over at Hallmarkies Podcast. Through some amazing coincidences I actually got my first intern for my content in March! You can read about how all that happened here.
REMEMBERING MY GRANDMA
All that out of the way, let’s talk about the important event of March. My Grandma Virginia Richards passed away at the ripe old age of 96. Fortunately we all had a little heads up because she decided to go into hospice care. Sam and I were able to go down and visit her the Saturday before she passed away and we had a lovely time talking (Mark, Joel and family were also there). 
Since I learned of her passing I’ve reminisced to myself about the many happy memories I had with her. As a little girl I spent many hours at her house. I remember eating her homemade fruit leather and teasing her about all the margarine containers she had saved up. She was a child of the Great Depression and never lost that thrifty spirit She taught me how to can preserves and jellies and tried to teach me how to make pies which I can never seem to master. I loved her canned peaches that were small almost like apricots and tasted so good with cottage cheese.
When I was in college my sister and I would drive up to visit with her and my Grandpa most Sunday nights and eat dinner together. I remember one time she fell as she was coming up the stairs and she said ‘it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last’. LOL. She would usually make roasts for dinner and to say they were well done was an understatement but there was something comforting about them anyway. And her pies were always the best!
She had 8 children and yet she didn’t get married until she was 30. As an older single I’ve always found that encouraging. I remember her telling me she did get frustrated on occasion with dating but she found something to do with her life. In fact, when she was deciding to join the WAVES she made an appointment with one of the First Presidency of our church to discuss it (I can’t remember who it was but it was a different time). Some in her family didn’t think it was a good idea but she prayed and went. While in the WAVES she went to movies at Radio City Music Hall and was in Times Square when the VA day celebration happened. Then she would go on to be a missionary for our church and finally get married. (She met my Grandpa on a blind date after he had heard her speak on her mission homecoming speaking tour).
She was also a working woman (with 8 kids. Can you imagine!) She worked as a medical technologist while my Grandpa worked as a guidance counselor for local schools. She was acutely aware of her inadequacies but boy did she accomplish a lot!
I’m grateful to have had the blessing of a sweet Grandma who loved me and did so much for me. She was a good person who tried her best to leave the world better than she found it.
Here is a little gallery of pictures I got of her through her life:
I now only have one grandparent left, and I suppose that is to be expected at the age of 38. I’m grateful I had each one of them and hope to set as good an example for those I come in contact with.
RIP Grandma. Love you
Rachel's Musings 
That’s a lovely portrait of her in uniform, although when I was in the Navy, regulations stated that hair must not touch the collar, so because her hair is down, the photo is a glamour shot.
It’s sad to lose her, but what she left behind in love, and talent inherited by her descendants, is eternal.
The WAVES was stateside only and mostly clerical work so I think it was different than the Navy today. She didnt go through basic training or anything like the male soldiers. Anyway thanks. She definitely left a tremendous legacy
I’m old enough to have been one of your grandmother’s older children, and the Navy I served in was not “the Navy today,” either. When I served, women were still prohibited from shipboard duty and from working in the ratings that required duty at sea and at many overseas duty stations. If anything, the Navy of your grandmother’s day would have been even stricter about women’s uniform regulations than they were when I was in the service. Although acknowledging the WAVES’ womanhood, the Navy had to preserve its professional bearing, as well as to protect its – and the women’s – reputations.
Fair enough. I dont think she went to basic training as a soldier is all I’m saying
Uniform regulations have nothing to do with whether one has had combat training. Uniform regs exist to ensure that the appearance of all military personnel conform to a specific standard. Different uniforms are used for different purposes, but no matter what their rate, rating, or billet, even if performing a strictly desk job, the grooming of Navy personnel also has to conform. When your grandmother was on duty, she probably wore a hair net or pinned up her hair, to keep it high enough off her shoulders. If she had not, she would have been put on report for being out of uniform, and subjected to disciplinary action.
That said, because the official portrait taken by the military (the one that is put in the member’s personnel file and used on an identity card) tends to be quite unflattering, I don’t blame your grandmother for finding somebody to take a prettier picture of her.
I’m so sorry for your recent loss. Losing a loved one can be tough, but having family and friends that care and support you can be a much needed source of comfort during such an emotional time. I will definitely keep you and your family in my thoughts.