Agnes Wilmes - a remarkable woman

Okay, so I've been a slacker. But we had to recover from Christmas, get 90% of our stuff unpacked (that last 10%...someday....) and then our beloved Grandma Wilmes got worse and died on Groundhog Day.

Now there was a woman. She grew up one of 9 farm kids, second oldest, and helped raise the younger ones. She was always a hard worker. Got married and had 6 kids of her own plus lots of foster kids after that--foster kids she loved like they were her own. Her husband died in 1953 or so and she kept farming with her oldest boys. Loved her daughters in law like they were her own kids, and each of her 22 grandkids was special to her. Remembered the names and approximate birthdays of her 45+ great grandkids, and had two great-great-grandkids in the oven when she died. She never had much but she always had plenty to give. We should all live like that, or try.

I love my mom and want to be like her in many ways, and I have good aunts too. But nobody has been a better role model for me than Grandma Wilmes. If I ask myself, what would Grandma do, I get the best answers.