Grandma Alta Chapter 4--wife, mother, Air Force life

Setting up house after their marriage, Grandma expressed excitement with simple things.  Like her washing machine and toaster.  She even offered to do her family's laundry for them if they would send it to her!
She did a lot of typing to help Grandpa get through two degrees in record time.  He said she earned the degrees with him, and that he could never have done it without her help.  Even though they were very busy, they took time for fun (golfing, deep sea fishing together, having visits with friends).  They made do with very few things.  She told a funny story about having friends over and it was really dark in the living room because they didn't have any lamps in there.  She said that would be their next project.
She wrote a cute letter to her family announcing her first pregnancy.  She told her parents she couldn't wait to give them their Christmas present, and they could choose boy or girl, it might be either.  15 lb weight gain was all the doctor wanted her to gain!!!  She was sorry to not be able to eat fruit--especially the watermelons in Florida.  
Military moving--Grandma said moving was hard as the kids got older and had to move away from their friends, but that it really brought the family closer together.  They made lots of friends, and saw a lot of the world.
She did talk a bit about the stress of inviting important people over, but she got over it when she realized that people are people no matter how rich and important, and she soon found her groove with all the hostessing she had to do.
Tired mother story--the same things happening in 1950s as now--Aunt Marilyn drawing on walls, getting a bad burn, climbing up on everything, being picky eater, too busy to spend enough time with everyone.
It was very sweet to read the story in Grandma's words of the traumatic burn experience.  She felt so sorry because she felt she had been too busy doing too many things--trying to iron while feed people lunch and look after the kids.  She also expressed during this time that she felt Brad didn't get the attention he needed during grade 1.  She said that they did their best but it seemed that they didn't do enough.  Sometimes as parents we just can't be everywhere and do everything we need/want to, but all we can do is our best!  It was interesting to read Brad's comment that he felt his mom was always there for him when he needed her and that she helped him with moving transitions and new schools.  So it seems that our efforts are noticed and felt by our children even if they don't have the ability to express that to us.

To Discuss:  At different stages of their lives Grandma had to get by with very little money.  She always expressed gratitude for what she had, and she was very inventive in meeting the needs of their family.  She also had a great sense of humor in describing her changing situation.  In what ways can a sense of gratitude and humor be a blessing in our lives?  Grandma also found that she just needed to be herself when in the company of rich and important people.  How can that lesson she learned help us to do the things we will be asked to do in our lives?