My dear, sweet, 99 year old, danish Grandma Engla passed away last night surrounded by people she loved on both sides of the veil. She was such an amazing woman, a perfect example on how to live righteously. She loved to share her testimony and was always counting her blessings. I can't remember ever going to visit without her mentioning something about the gospel and her blessings. I loved listening to her recite the articles of faith in danish, which she knew by heart, word for word. She studied the Book of Mormon daily for hours until her sight got so bad she couldn't see the words on the pages. But even then, I'd see her clasp the book in her hands as she'd ponder and think of her favorite verses from the scriptures. Truly inspiring!!!
I grew up living right next door to my sweet grandma. I'd go over to her house almost every day to be with her. We'd watch a lot of TV together, her favorite shows were The Price is Right and People's Court. She'd get so mad at the TV because she thought for sure The Price is Right was rigged and Bob Barker only let his favorites win. It bothered her so much she could hardly stand to watch it, yet the thought of missing it was too much to bear. Too funny! She would always make me a snack to eat while we were watching TV like a hot dog bun with butter and brown sugar. Lol! I miss those days!! In her later years, she became and avid Utah Jazz fan. She LOVED to watch the Jazz! And she'd always wear her Jazz shirt the day they were playing. She had all sorts of Jazz stuff like calendars, mugs and blankets. Another one of my favorite memories of my grandma was her singing and dancing. She knew so many different danish folk songs and was always singing them and teaching them to all us grand kids. She also exercised more than any other old lady I've ever met. She had this little trampoline that she'd do all sorts of strange exercises on. She'd do a ton of sit-ups, bicycle legs in the air, she'd even exercise her fingers by opening and closing them at least twenty times a day. I don't know where she got all her energy from. She was always happy and busy doing something. It seems like she was always taking one of the grand kids on the bus to "downtown" Salt Lake. There she'd take us around temple square, and sometimes into a D.I. to look around. The D.I. was like heaven for my grandma. The workers all knew her by name and she knew how to talk the price down on anything. It was great! Then we'd grab an ice cream cone before heading home. Grandma sure did love ice cream! She ate ice cream almost every day. Not even exaggerating! And the way she could pound the buffet bar at Chuck-o-rama or Hometown was astonishing! She sure loved to eat! And cook! She used cook dinner for my family and my cousins every single week. One of her many talents. She loved to do it!!! At holiday parties she'd make "citronfromage" (a danish jelloish type stuff) and hide a walnut in the middle. Getting the walnut was a special thing!!! Grandma seemed to always have a puzzle out too. When we'd sit and do puzzles together, she'd "whistle" the entire time. But for those of you that knew grandma.... she couldn't whistle. Haha!! She would just blow and blow, but never make a whistling sound. It was so funny! So many, many wonderful memories! I could go on and on! I feel so blessed to have had such an amazing example in my life for so many years. She was always so full of love and gratitude. Grandma taught me so much and gave me so much love over the past 30 years. I am so happy for her to finally join my grandpa, her brothers and sisters, parents and other family and friends on the other side. She is my hero! My angel! I love her dearly!!! I can't wait to be with her again someday! She will be greatly missed!!!!!
