EDITOR'S NOTE: I wrote this in late June last year, right after my grandmother passed. As I usually do, I wrote it later in an evening and left it saved to edit again before posting. Well, this one slipped past and I didn't go back and post it amidst a hectic summer. My apologies for the lateness. She knew such things happen.
My Grandmother Rubie (my dad's mom) passed away on the 20th of this month [June, 2017]. Whether you knew her or not, I'd like to share some reflections I have on her life, my experiences with her, and her effects on my rather small family. This last week has been emotional, and the silver lining of seeing someone close pass is the gathering of family and friends.
I am the youngest of my siblings (two sisters) and younger than my two cousins on my dad's side. These cousins grew up in Bozeman and spent summers with their parents, my family, and my grandparents. My Grandma had naturally always been the matriarch of the family, but after my Grandpa Jim passed away in 1995, she became even more central to the family. Until the early-2000s or so, most ranch business was done at her house. Because her house was next to the corrals and barn, all the lunches for brandings, shippings, and other day-works were always there, and of course, so was she.
I have plenty of good memories with her one-on-one, something any grandchild should feel lucky to say. Being the youngest, I got to spend days with her before I was kindergarten age, while my sisters were off to school and both my parents were making livings. In middle school she was especially supportive with my music education and got me to many fiddle lessons.
I came back to the ranch every summer in college, and preferred to stay in the bunkhouse, a former ice-house turned meat cooler turned single room bachelor ranch hand shack, and was fed well by her while living there. She cooked me many a pancake on miserably, unfairly cold and wet June mornings spent out irrigating, and her kitchen was always cozy. She would rarely be caught without a dessert in her kitchen, and was sure you'd gotten plenty. Whether it actually helped or not, I liked being able to check in on her often, though it probably worked the other way round. We always seemed to be on the same team.
While I was in Iowa, her health slowly declined. I am grateful to have been in Montana this last year and to have gotten more time with her. I'd last seen her a couple weeks prior to her going, and I'm so glad I told her I loved her before we left. I also feel grateful for being with my parents and aunt and uncle the day it happened, just to have been there.
We cleaned out her house before it came down of course, and shared what treasures we found in it with her while we could. Our house is being built at this moment on the site of her old house, and now we move onward with the new.
2/28/18
Finishing the house
Well that was a busy eight months of house building and managing the dealership. I should have posted sometime toward the end of last year, but there was just too much going on.
I was around and involved in every stage of the house construction, answering questions on what we wanted as needed. I didn't do any of the heavier duty construction. That's what we had professional contractors for, and we were glad to have them. I was gone too much during that time anyway.
I put up more hay doing demos and setting up new machines for customers than for the ranch. I was gone six or seven days a week from late June through early September. It was a much busier year for the dealership in both sales and service. Dad did field a few service calls, but I handled the majority of them. I also managed the paperwork end of things amidst all the field work. It was challenging, to put it concisely. Everything settled down and became more manageable once hay season ended, but it still finished off as the biggest year the dealership has ever had.
Sarah's job has gone well, and she is more comfortable with pediatrics all the time. Balancing house decisions, helping with finish work, and the daily grind is also a challenge. She and I are both looking forward to having the time and space to get back into hobbies we've had to forego since we left Iowa.
I was much more involved with the finish end of the house, from October into January when we moved in. Jim Robison-Cox and I put in the batting insulation. Jim, Sarah, and I put in the vinyl plank flooring. I also clear-coated some of the reclaimed wood used throughout the house. Jim had his reclaimed wood features well underway at this point. The fireplace was my big undertaking though. The contractors were not familiar with any masons in the area, so I decided to try it myself. Youtube makes rock work look too easy, and that was one pitfall, but after much trial-and-error, I got rocks to stick. Masonry is the world's most difficult puzzle, and it also happens to be a very muddy, dirty job. I got it all to work in the end, though, and am happy to have the fireplace and its coziness, the heritage of the rocks from my grandparents' fireplace, and the point of pride that I built it.
The move went smoothly. Since I was making daily trips to the house, I took truckloads of boxes to the house most days for a couple weeks before the big move. Despite it being late January, the weather and roads were good; no one got hurt, and no furniture or belongings were damaged. Some carpet and tile on the main floor weren't done until right after we moved in, so we lived upstairs for the first week. Unpacking is never-ending, but we get more done all the time.
I owe many thanks to many people:
I was around and involved in every stage of the house construction, answering questions on what we wanted as needed. I didn't do any of the heavier duty construction. That's what we had professional contractors for, and we were glad to have them. I was gone too much during that time anyway.
I put up more hay doing demos and setting up new machines for customers than for the ranch. I was gone six or seven days a week from late June through early September. It was a much busier year for the dealership in both sales and service. Dad did field a few service calls, but I handled the majority of them. I also managed the paperwork end of things amidst all the field work. It was challenging, to put it concisely. Everything settled down and became more manageable once hay season ended, but it still finished off as the biggest year the dealership has ever had.
Sarah's job has gone well, and she is more comfortable with pediatrics all the time. Balancing house decisions, helping with finish work, and the daily grind is also a challenge. She and I are both looking forward to having the time and space to get back into hobbies we've had to forego since we left Iowa.
I was much more involved with the finish end of the house, from October into January when we moved in. Jim Robison-Cox and I put in the batting insulation. Jim, Sarah, and I put in the vinyl plank flooring. I also clear-coated some of the reclaimed wood used throughout the house. Jim had his reclaimed wood features well underway at this point. The fireplace was my big undertaking though. The contractors were not familiar with any masons in the area, so I decided to try it myself. Youtube makes rock work look too easy, and that was one pitfall, but after much trial-and-error, I got rocks to stick. Masonry is the world's most difficult puzzle, and it also happens to be a very muddy, dirty job. I got it all to work in the end, though, and am happy to have the fireplace and its coziness, the heritage of the rocks from my grandparents' fireplace, and the point of pride that I built it.
The move went smoothly. Since I was making daily trips to the house, I took truckloads of boxes to the house most days for a couple weeks before the big move. Despite it being late January, the weather and roads were good; no one got hurt, and no furniture or belongings were damaged. Some carpet and tile on the main floor weren't done until right after we moved in, so we lived upstairs for the first week. Unpacking is never-ending, but we get more done all the time.
I owe many thanks to many people:
- Brad and Kevan Dana for their patience, flexibility, professionalism, and knowledge
- My parents and Sarah's parents for their support and patience with two young adults trying to figure things out
- Chris and Jim Robison-Cox for their many hours building a beam light, window sills, closet doors, and helping with ceiling beams, stairs, flooring, and much else.
- Court, Aaron, and especially Elayna Kellum for their advice and for their moving help
It's likely that 2018 will be a quieter year than 2017, and I'm OK with that. I am happy to live in this house after we've put so much into it. We're looking forward to hosting any visiting friends and family in the future! We have room!
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