Tia

My favorite memories of Grandpa and Grandma are many. One of the earliest is getting a bath in the kitchen sink from Grandma, it was a sad day when I no longer fit in the sink. Another early memory is snuggling into Grandma's soft "wings" and listening to her humming, she always seemed to be humming. Cooking included humming, watching TV included humming, cleaning included humming and watching us play involved humming. I also remember the summer she took my sisters, Kaylynn and I swimming at the Burley pool all day for three days. And didn't apply sunscreen once. There were four burnt exhausted girls running around the house half naked yelling because she had put vinegar on our backs to try and take away the heat. To this day I can't use vinegar without thinking of Grandpa with the newspaper up past his ears to avoid seeing us running laps around the house half naked. I remember Grandpa making each of us little individual loaves of bread and how special it made me feel that he had made a loaf just for me. I remember playing in the flooded back yard on irrigation days. I remember using the new twin air mattresses as stair sleds and the new queen air mattress at the bottom of the stairs as a crash pad. I remember sitting on the back porch eating watermellon and spitting the seeds in the grass and then being confused when Grandpa told us not to spit seeds in the grass. Who wouldn't want free watermellon? I remember at least 3 choices of ice cream (chocolate, vanilla or stripes) in the freezer at all times. I remember many nights spent listening to stories recorded by Grandpa and Grandma, I still like listening to them. I remember many years of Thanksgiving dinners and eating way too much food, mostly Grandma's rolls. I remember checking my height on the closet every time I visited (I still like being measured), being button measured, tricked into face measuring kisses and love spanks and Grandpa trying endlessly to teach us to whistle his tricky little tunes. I still love being asked if my name is Stillfriggins. I remember walking into the Celestial room for the first time and seeing Grandpa and Grandma and all my family and thinking, "This is what Heaven is like." Mostly I will always cherish the feeling of unconditional love everytime I came or left and got a hug. If you are with the Merrill's hugs are not optionional. I love how they have managed to create such a close knit family despite the great distances between everyone. I will always remember the strong spirit that permeates their house. They are exceptionally special people and I am proud to call them my grandparents.
Love, Tia.