19 Comments
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Connie Taylor's avatar

This is such a loving tribute to your grandma, Nicole. I feel like I know just who she was. I feel the same way about my grandma, and even though she's been gone over 50 years, I still miss her every.single.day. And I love that you have some of her recipes. I also keep my grandma's memory alive by making some of her recipes for my family. Weren't we the luckiest to have had them in our lives?

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Nicole Baart's avatar

So lucky. I wish my kids could have known her.

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Julie Stone's avatar

I love this so much. I think your Grandma Nellie and my Grandma Dolly would have been fast friends. Though, Grandma Dolly was a bit of a rascal. Before she went into the nursing home, my dad got her one of those buttons you push if you fall down and can't get up. Soon after she got it, my dad got an alert that she had, in fact fallen, and went racing over there in record time. He tore in to find her sitting at her kitchen table with a glass of ice tea and a smile on her face. She just wanted to see how quickly he would come if she needed him. And then she giggled and he couldn't be mad at her. She was a delight.

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Nicole Baart's avatar

Grandma Nellie was a bit of a rascal, too! They would have loved each other, I’m sure. 😉

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Julie Gammack's avatar

Oh how I love this story!

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Nicole Baart's avatar

Me too! I have SO MANY amazing stories about that wonderful woman…

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Julie Gammack's avatar

You could even create a whole new substack columns called Grandma Nellie Did This…

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Nicole Baart's avatar

I absolutely could. So much I could share…

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Susan Yonger's avatar

I love your grandma. And I love my grandma. She looked at the world through rose-colored glasses. Her father ended his own life when her mother was pregnant with #6. The “Spanish flu” in 1918 or 1919 closed the college and ended her studies there. She raised her children on the farm during the Depression. She wrote poetry. She was a sweet, loving grandma.

Thank you for reminding me of her.

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Nicole Baart's avatar

Oh, the stories your grandmother could tell... I love it that she wrote poetry. I wish I could have met her.

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Char Krahling's avatar

Thank you for sharing your grandma's story. It brought back memories of my grandma Nellie and what a delightful surprise, the cake recipe you shared is the same rhubarb cake recipe I just made.

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Nicole Baart's avatar

No way! Doesn't it make the house smell divine? Whenever I make it, I can close my eyes and I'm right back there in her kitchen...

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Kim's avatar

My grandma was a Nellie too!! I miss her dearly. She made the best sour cream raisin pie. Your grandma sounds like a wonderful person!

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Nicole Baart's avatar

I LOVE sour cream raisin! I had forgotten about that… Thanks for the memory!

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Lori Lovstad's avatar

Well, dammit, now I’m crying at work missing Grandma. The words she would have for people and the state of the world right now. She was an amazing woman.

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Nicole Baart's avatar

So amazing. I miss her so much.

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Dean Weitenhagen's avatar

Very touching story about a beautiful woman. I was thrilled you didn’t swerve into your seemingly favorite theme of “real Christians” would welcome ALL immigrants entering America illegally - even violent criminals. You did come close with “those the world deems unlovable”. It was an obvious reference to illegal immigrants. I suggest you take up with your grandmother’s supposed sentiment: open your house - immediately - to illegal immigrants. Don’t worry, your one or two spare rooms could accommodate a dozen of such folks. Let me know how your family fares when you do. I did enjoy the heartfelt memories of your grandmother.

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Nicole Baart's avatar

Your comment has left me with a bit of whiplash, Dean. All the same, glad you enjoyed it.

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Louise Schmelzer's avatar

Would that everyone could have known your grandmother. What a lovely lady, with a sense of humor, a sense of purpose, and a good soul.

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