Random Memories of Grandma Nellie

There have been stories I've collected that don't fit neatly into my categories but are important to note and typify who Grandma was. These are the stories in their own words

"We took Henry to dinner at Lake Michigan, I think it was at Holland. And we were walking on the beach and Henry said " The Lake is much larger than I thought." And Nellie said "And that's just the top that you see!"  That was very much like she was. She was such a great person but there was so much more depth than everyone saw.

Andra Robinson ( Husband of Linda Rae Wadsworth Robinson)

And she lives in all of us

As we've lived our lives without her we've discovered many ways that she became a part of us. Things we saw her do and do ourselves because she did or things we admired in her that we strive to do in our own lives or just silly things that for one reason or not we find ourselves doing. Here are the ways she lives on in us...

"When I have something to do or someone to catch. I totally run in church. I try to slow down around kids so that they don't pick up my bad example, and really it's a church run....not a full out run. And Grandma did it all the time."

Sunny Casandra Wadsworth Tangren ( third child of David Wadsworth first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

OK. Here's Grandma Nellie's legacy in our house. Becka was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the other day and got jelly on the counter. I watched her lean over and lick it up off the counter. I was totally grossed out by the whole thing and asked her what she was doing. She looked at me and said, "Grandma Nellie did that all the time."

Kim Biel Wadsworth ( wife of Gordon Richard Wadsworth sixth and last child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth talking about their oldest child Rebecca Wadsworth)

My son, Hyrum, was born seven years after her passing and never met her her in life but today as he was playing his game I heard him say "Oh fiddlesticks!" I have no idea where he got that but it's something that Grandma Nellie said all of the time. It made me smile thinking that perhaps a touch of her lives on even in him.

Sunny Casandra Wadsworth Tangren ( third child of David Cecil Wadsworth first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

I've seen mom wipe up a spill on the floor at a church event, just for one example. I have found myself doing the same kind of thing, wiping, picking up, cleaning whatever needed it in public places. She was such a good example of how to help others. Thanks mom!

Dianna Lynn Wadsworth Babcock ( third child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth )

On hot summer nights as we would lie in bed, mom would come quietly into the room. She had in her hand a warm damp washcloth. She would remove the covers from the foot of our beds and gently wash our feet. Three of us shared a room. She would go from bed to bed washing our feet in the dark, with only the hallway light to help her see. It felt so wonderful. My eyes well up as I think of it. To this day, if I have worn sandals or gone barefoot, I cannot get in bed without washing my feet. And I think of mom every time.

Linda Rae Wadsworth Robinson ( fourth child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth )

I totally leave dishes in water to soak. When Grandma would have her dinner parties she'd put all the dishes in warm soapy water to soak afterwards and wouldn't let anyone do the dishes. Unlike me she probably had them cleaned, dried and back in the cupboards 10 minutes after everyone left though. It kinda bugs my husband because I usually end up leaving them in the water till it's cold and yucky but I justify doing it because she did.

Sunny Casandra Wadsworth Tangren ( third child of David Cecil Wadsworth first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth )

Every time I pick up a crumb or lint or something small off the floor I think of Grandma. She didn't see it and think, I should vacuum , but she'd just pick up the crumb off the floor right then! ( sometimes making her way across the room picking up many little messes as she went)

Nicole Noel Wadsworth Garrick ( first child of David Cecil Wadsworth first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth )

Every time I swing Miles and Celia they love to hear the same song: If I remember right, this is a Nellie song, passed to Char, passed to me and now passed to my two: Mom, am I right?

I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck, hug around the neck, and a barrel and a heap, a barrel and a heap and I'm talking in my sleep about you, about you, do da loo da do do doo.

Jeannie Marie Sheneman Voller ( fourth child of Charlene Mavis Wadsworth Miller second child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsoworth)

I remember growing up I always hated the fact that we couldn't have store bought bread. Now, I'm thankful for the legacy of her bread making skills. I baked some yesterday and delivered them to my home teaching families telling them that Nellie sent them some bread. of course, she didn't bake it but she is the reason they were getting it.
Gordon Richard Wadsworth ( sixth child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

Great Grandchildren remember Grandma Nellie

I dont really remeber her all that much. I do remeber being really little and staying over there for dinner one evening. and I remeber the chairs being so high I could barely climb up onto them. I remeber the taste of the bread and the sweetness of her jam over the top. I also vaguly remeber being a little girl making homemade bread and jam with her. and she kept her flour in a old milk can. I remeber that she had a cookie jar that never seemed to be empty. And that she gave lots of hugs.

Tiffany Sheneman ( first child of Timothy Sheneman, second son of Charlene Wadsworth Miller, second daughter of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth )

I remember that her birthday was January 15th which was two days before mine. She would always have a cookie ready for us when we'd go over there.

Justis Sheneman ( second child of Timothy Sheneman second son of Charlene Wadsworth Miller, second daughter of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

Grandma loved to laugh

One of the sounds we miss most is Grandma's laughter. Grandma was always laughing, most of the time it was at herself. She found so much joy in simply living and she expressed this in laughter. The following are stories of our funny times with her in our own words…

When we were little we were going to Grandma’s house after church for one of her famous mouthwatering pot roast meals. We kids decided to go home with grandma and grandpa because Mom and Dad had choir practice. It was a cold winter day and grandma was wearing a long down coat. When we got into the house grandma took off her coat and we were all shocked to see her standing there with only a blouse and a slip. Grandpa made a comment that I can’t remember (I think something about running out of her skirt) and she looked down and let out a scream. She grabbed her coat back on and we all laughed until we cried. After she put on some different clothes she called my dad at church. She laughed so hard when she told him she lost her skirt at church and could he look for it. The laughs continued when my dad brought home someone else’s skirt from church!!! Who could imagine two people loosing their skirts and church on the same day!

Holly Wadsworth Avery (second child of David Wadsworth, first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

I had been at Grandma’s house for her to alter yet another article of clothing. She had me try on the clothes so she knew what she had to do and then she would alter it then have me try it on again. After a half an hour with her, helping her sew, I realized that she had her shirt on inside out. Neither she nor I had noticed previously and we laughed non stop for about 15 minutes with tears streaming down our faces.

Sunny Wadsworth Tangren (third daughter of David Wadsworth, who was first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

I remembered being there up on the farm one day and there were about eight of us missionaries and we were cutting wood or doing something for them up there and Grandma came up and said to us “Oh there’s this other place on the property that I want you to take care of too” and we said “Ok, where is it” and she said “Come follow me!” and she took off running. We took off running too and we couldn’t keep up with her. And then I realized what we must look like; eight 20 year olds running after an 80 year old woman. I just had to sit down and laugh.

Unnamed Missionary

I remember a time when grandma was watching us and we were in her car (the Toyota that she called her “Toy” a play on Toyota). While we were driving around she saw a man in a pick-up truck that dropped a piece of plywood out of the back of his truck. She was determined to find this man and tell him that he’d dropped the wood and whipped around corners and down streets trying to catch him while we all sat in the back seat crying “Where’s the beef” because there had been a commercial for Wendy’s that had an old woman not big enough to see over the steering wheel driving around wildly while two other old women were in back sliding from side to side and the punch line of the commercial was “Where’s the beef” She just laughed and laughed, us along with her. She never was able to find the man who lost part of his load but we had so much fun trying to find him.

Sunny Wadsworth Tangren (third daughter of David Wadsworth, who was first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

Grandma was an optimist

Grandma always looked at the bright side of life. Everything was just so close to being better. She spread her optimism like the rays of the sun, warming and cheering everyone it touched. Here are some stories of those who were touched by that light in their own words…

Mom was the eternal optimist. When I would show her my report card, she would look at the "C's" and say, enthusiastically, "That’s almost a B!" the B's "that’s almost an A!" While other kids were being grounded for less than perfect grades, my dear mother was standing by, cheering me on.

Linda Wadsworth Robinson (fourth child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

The number on her time card at Steketees (the place where she worked as and alterations seamstress and sales clerk) was 2 and they were hiring college kids in at a higher wage than she was making. I once asked her “Why don’t you complain?” and her reply was simply “I’m making good money” And she was so excited that she got a raise. We decided that the cost of living went up and so did minimum wage and they had just brought her up to minimum wage.

Andra Robinson (husband of Linda Wadsworth Robinson, fourth child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

I was reminded again about Grandma and her Visiting Teaching list. When she died she was my visiting teaching supervisor. Every month she would call me to see who I'd visited on my list of 3-4 people. That was incentive for me to get it done for sure! But of course, I'm not Grandma and so I didn't always get to visit everyone. She always made me feel like it was ok. She'd go on about "I don't know how you girls do it these days! Your lives are so busy with the children and callings and working and families to tend to." As if she wasn't busy! She would not only visit teach every month the 14 or so people who were on her list, but bring them a treat every time!
Nicole Wadsworth Garrick (First child of David Wadsworth first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

When I was over at the house yesterday I was looking at the calendar, looking at her writing and what was happening in her life, when the missionaries were coming over and everything. On the 28^th , the day she died there was a little sticker that said “Vacation”*

Linda Robinson (fourth child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

*Now that’s confidence of being ready. Well we were going to go out to Salt Lake to go to Conference and we couldn’t get tickets to go to Conference and selfish me I said “ Well let’s go another time when I can have something to do besides just go to conference” They wanted to go to a missionary reunion and go to conference. When we couldn’t get tickets for General Conference I thought “We can just watch it on T.V. here.” I talked to Mom and Dad and asked if we might postpone the trip a little while. Mom was quite disappointed because the missionary reunion she wanted to go to. When Dad and I talked about it we decided that if they went to the missionary reunion there would probably be one or two people there that they actually worked with. It seemed a lot of vacation time and a lot of money to go all the way out there just to see one or two people. I suggested that we plan a little reunion with the few people they wanted to see and we’d have them up to Salt Lake when we went out there later. Mom said “Ok, That’d be fine” I asked “Are you sure you’re not disappointed.” She assured me that she wasn’t but later I found out that she was trying to find airfare to go out to Salt Lake City anyway. I called here and said “Mom, you said that you weren’t disappointed about this. If you want to go I’ll drive you” She said “Oh no I’m not disappointed at all and besides that, Daddy doesn’t feel good about it either.” Well guess what, she went to Conference anyway without us. And she went to her missionary reunion( or is going tomorrow). She was determined to get there one way or the other.*

Charlene Wadsworth Miller (second child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

*as told at a family get together the day before her funeral

She and Grandpa came to visit our family one year when we were living in Sheridan, Montana.
We were all sitting around the television one evening, watching a particularly gory horror film.
Grandma, of course, was in the background, running around and cooking and cleaning etc. She came over to sit with us for a moment,(ever present dish towel in hand) during the films goriest climax. We were all sitting silently, horrified, looking at the screen though our fingers, so as to block out some of the gore.
Grandma cheerfully piped up and said "Now Cecil, I LIKE those curtains!" referring to the curtains in the bloody scene in front of us. That was Grandma. There is beauty in EVERY situation!

Sue Babcock Biegel ( second child of Dianna Wadsworth Babbcock third child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

Grandma loved to give

If there was one thing that we know about Grandma is that she loved to give. She never let a birthday or a Christmas go by without something being given but that’s not the only time she gave. She often couldn’t give much but she gave all she could. Here are some stories written by the recipients of her gifts in their own words.

I was on my mission and it was towards the end of the month and I had no money and I didn’t have any food either. I didn’t know what I was going to do because I had to eat of course. I got my mail and there was a letter from grandma and she had sent me two dollars. And I went and bought milk and that was all I needed because I had cereal I just didn’t have anything to eat it with. I lived for the rest of the month on two dollars. She said in the letter ”I wish it could be more, but it is all that I have and I wanted you to have it” In my brain I would have just said “It’s just two dollars and it’s twenty three cents on top of that to send it. What a hassle.” But it made all the difference in the world to me.

Andrew Sheneman (third child of Charlene Wadsworth (Sheneman) Miller, second child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

She just wanted a present for everyone. Charlie’s birthday is today and I told her about it last week and she said “What am I going to get Charlie” I said “Mom, Charlie doesn’t need anything and they don’t expect you to buy him a gift.” But no she wanted to buy him a gift. She wanted to give everyone a gift who’s birthday it was or who’s wedding it was. Anybody in the ward who had a wedding, Mom was there with a present. And she probably, in fact I know she she’d got things up in her closet that she bought ahead of time for wedding gifts, so she could give to everybody.*

Charlene Wadsworth Miller (second child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

*As told at the family gathering the day before her funeral

I know whenever Ethan (2) saw Grandma and Grandpa he would go up and say “Candy, Candy” and she would say “Give me a kiss” and he would give her anything she wanted. I remember on Sunday she was doing choir practice and Ethan was holding Nathan’s scriptures (they looked like a briefcase for him because he’s so small) and he was following her and she said “Come on, let me sit down and I’ll give you some candy” He walked up to the woman beside her and put down the scriptures and stood in front of her (the other woman) and then looked up realized it wasn’t Grandma picked up the scriptures, walked in front of Grandma put down the scriptures and waited for her to give him candy. After church we were giving Grandma and Grandpa something and as soon as Ethan saw the car he said “Candy, Candy” She was just “Candy Grandma” to him.*

Holly Wadsworth Avery (best child of David Wadsworth, first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

*As told at a family gathering the day before her funeral

I will always remember how excited Grandma got about her presents. Whether it was a sampler box of Whitman chocolates or something we all chipped in to buy her like the curio cabinet or the small television, she beamed with joy. I see her throwing her head back, clutching her gift to her chest, closing her eyes and making a squealing noise. Grandma knew best how to receive as well as she knew how to give.

Sallee Robinson (first child of Linda Wadsworth Robinson, fourth child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

When I was living in England, Grandma sent me lots of letters. One time she sent a one dollar bill. I thought it was so sweet but knew if I exchanged it, it wouldn’t even amount to one English pound so I tucked it back into the envelope and forgot about it. Much later as a poor college student, I was sorting through stuff from England and found that one dollar bill. While I had enough money to meet my needs, it served as a rare luxury when I was able to go and buy my favorite breadsticks and sauce. I also remember her sending me care packages at college with cookies, chips and misc. yummy treats.

Holly Wadsworth Avery (second child of David Wadsworth, first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

It seemed that there were always things hanging on the coat racks at church, dresses, shirts, pairs of pants or coats that grandma had either not wanted any longer or had fixed up that she had hung on the coat racks with a large note pinned (grandma always pinned her notes with straight pins) on to the garment saying “Free, please take” She knew there were those in the ward who may need them and not knowing who they might be just left the articles of clothing on the racks hoping that the person who needed it would find it and take it home. I’m sure there were things hanging on the church coat racks for weeks after she left us waiting for a home to go to.

Sunny Wadsworth Tangren (Third child of David Wadsworth, first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

Grandma loved to clean

Grandma loved to help in any way she could but the way she found most of the time was cleaning. From straightening the room to shaking the rug she always did her best to keep the world a cleaner place. The following are stories of the triumphs and tragedies of her quest for cleanliness.

I remember staying at Mom’s house; we would always go there when we were on vacation and you know you’re always going someplace visiting people. So we’d quick change our clothes and leave them on the bed and run off to visit someone else. When we’d come back Mom would have them hung on hangers and the clothes we’d taken off would be folded up. So the next day I threw them in the suitcase and closed the top. I came home and they were all folded up inside the suitcase.

Dianna Babcock Wadsworth (third child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

When she’d come over to watch the kids she’d do the laundry and she’d mix things up. So I got to the point that when I knew she was coming over to watch the kids I’d do the laundry, because I wanted her to watch the kids and not do the laundry. When I would do the laundry then she would clean the house while she was there. So it got to the point that I would do the laundry and clean the house before she’d come over to watch the kids. And she would always find something like cleaning the windows so then I would clean the windows before she’d come over. All I wanted her to do was watch the kids.

Kim Biel Wadsworth ( Wife of Gordon Richard Wadsworth sixth and last child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)

It was the first year that we were married and we were in this one bedroom apartment over on Mayfield. And it seemed like every time she came over if there was a closet that was cluttered or a bed unmade or a drawer that was messy somehow she found it when she was over. It wasn’t like she was snooping. It just seemed like invariably she would come across it when she was there. One day she called at around 9 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday and said that she was going to stop by at noon to pick something up. I said to Dave “Ok. I’m going to have once in my life where everything is going to be perfect, all the silverware is going to be pointed the same direction…everything is going to be perfect.” And we worked for three hours, just the two of us but we worked for three whole hours to have it perfect. She knocked on the door and I said “This is my moment, it may be the only one but this is my moment” I walked to the door and I turned around to take one more look. Everything was perfectly in place. I opened the door and she was shaking the welcome mat. I said “What are you doing?!” and she said “Oh well I was just waiting here and I thought this could use a shake.”

Pamela Streeter Wadsworth (wife of David Wadsworth first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)*

*This story was published in the Readers Digest by Pauline Streeter (Pam’s mother) in August of 1985. Published as follows:

YOU CAN'T WIN!
Our daughter's mother-in-law rarely sits down for more than a few minutes at a time. During any visit she dusts furniture, straightens pictures or finds dishes to wash. My daughter took all of this as criticism of her housekeeping.

One day the mother-in-law called to see if it would be all right to drop by. Our daughter informed her husband that this time his mother was not going to find anything that needed doing, but she wanted his help. They cleaned furiously. When the doorbell sounded, she paused for one more look to reassure herself that everything was in perfect order. Then she opened the door-to find the super-energized mother-in-law busily shaking the doormat.

When Suzie was a teenager she never put anything away. Mom came to visit and stayed at our house. Suzie’s room was a mess her floor was just covered and the closet had nothing hanging in it. Mom couldn’t stand that of course so she came in and cleaned it all up and put things away. Suzie came to me and said ”I don’t like it when Grandma does that, I can’t find anything” I said “Ok, well just tell her” So she told her and the next day Mom folded up all the stuff and left them in little piles all over the floor. Where ever it was she folded it and left it there.

Dianna Wadsworth Babcock (third child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth. Sue Babcock Biegel is Dianna’s second child)

I remember going to grandma’s house to play. She told me one time that she liked to watch “I Love Lucy” while she cleaned because it made the time go by faster.

Holly Wadsworth Avery(second child of David Wadsworth, first child of Nellie and Cecil Wadsworth)