A Great Grandchild's Tribute

 


           A GREAT GRANDCHILD’S TRIBUTE

On December 5, 2022, family members and friends of Donna Lou McAllister Wade (those who could) gathered to pay tribute to her and her amazing life.

Wonderful tributes were given from each of her five children as well as a beautiful remembrance from Stacey Lopez, representing her 19 grandchildren. Because of time constraints, none of her 72 great grandchildren had that opportunity. So- we thought it only fitting that we share with you a beautiful tribute paid to her by one of those great grandchildren.

When Blake and Michelle’s Spencer was in 2nd grade, he had a school assignment to report about a grandparent. Spencer chose to write about his great grandmother.  Not many kids still had one of those to talk about, much less a special one like his!

Here’s what Spencer said, “My Great Grandma Donna  - I know many things about my Grandma Donna. She was born in Mesa, Arizona on September 20,1928.  There were 5 children in her family. She had 3 brothers and 1 sister. When her dad married her mom, he was a minor league baseball player and that is how he made money to support his family. Her first memory of going to a baseball game was around age 3 or 4. She spent a lot of time at the baseball field going to games. Her favorite part was getting hot dogs. When she first started school, she was 5 years old.  She walked to school most of the time because she only lived a mile away and the bus took longer than walking. Some of her favorite things to play at school were swings, jump rope and volleyball. Her favorite subject was history. She loved spending time out in the desert with her dad and making cookies in the kitchen with her mom. Some of the chores she had to do were cleaning her room and taking turns cleaning the kitchen. They didn’t have a dishwasher, so they had to wash and dry everything by hand. She spent a lot of her extra time playing outside with her friends. During the summer she and her friends would go to the swimming pool and hang out. My grandma has never really used a computer. If she needs to get on one someone else does it for her. Her life as a kid seemed to be a lot harder than mine. She didn’t have all the cool things we have now. The only appliances they had were a washer and a vacuum. Clothes had to be wrung out and hung on a line to dry.  She was 12 before they even got a mixer. The kids were all happy when their mom got a pressure cooker because then the potatoes would cook a lot faster.  She had a lot of animals such as horses, rabbits, chickens, pigeons, dogs and cats.  She was able to have lunch at school. Her favorite day was Friday because she got a hamburger and ice cream. Later on, she was a cheerleader and a dancer. I love my great grandma Donna!”

Nicely done Spencer! We think you represented her great grandchildren very well! (Thank you, Spencer, for giving your permission to share this with family and friends in this month’s Grandparent Chronicles.)

We wish you all a very wonderful Christmas! 

 

Great grandma Wade wanted all of you to know and always remember just how much she loves every one of you- at Christmas time and always!!

Much Love- The Grandparent Chronicles

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