A Long Way to Go

I've always respected the grandparents of the world. These are people with 70 years of life behind them, yet they still manage to remain humble and learn new things. Grandma Ruth, though, is one of a kind. She is 83 years old, has a computer that she uses for more than just solitaire and emails me pictures every once in a while. A couple of years ago, she drove to Seattle from Bend, OR alone, visiting a friend along the way.

And now here she is, in the kitchen of the Dahlstrom home, asking where the potato masher is. "We don't have one," Mom calls from the living room. Frustrated by our laziness, she resentfully picks up the electric hand mixer that we use in the mashed potato making process and beats the potatoes into the creamiest of deaths.

She grew up in the era of potato mashers...a time when you had to work a little bit harder. How will I ever be as strong as her when I don't have to work to mash my potatoes? I've got a long way to go until I'm like her, but I hope that someday, I too will have the strength of a woman who grew up with the potato mashers. I love you, Grandma.