Here is an extensive essay outlining every memory I have had about Grandma & Grandpa Gibb ever:
One of the first memories I have about Grandma & Grandpa Gibb is when they were on their mission in Salt Lake City. They lived north east of the Church Office Building in a brown apartment building on the second floor. In their front room there wasn't much except for a couch, a T.V., and a V.C.R. (at least that's all I remember). Oft times, my mother and I (and possibly Mallory) would go to their apartment during the day. It was at this time that my life changed forever. While my mom chatted with her folks they would put on a movie for me. A very special movie. An awesome movie that has shaped all of us Gibb cousins' lives. You know the one. Yes, it was during this time in my life I was introduced to Mother Goose Stories and Mother Goose Rhymes. I learned many things from that movie, including what rutabaga is.
Aside from that awesome movie, I also remember going with Grandma & Grandpa to eat at the cafeteria of the Church Office Building. I don't remember what I ate, but I do remember that you put your tray on a conveyer belt and that some of the food was on rotating serving trays.
I remember when I was about 5 years old Grandma sent me a red sweater that had pink and white stripes. I hated it. Pink was for girls. I promised myself I would never let that "thing" hang on my shoulders while there was still breath in my lungs. A few months later, Grandma and Grandpa made the trek from Canada to visit the WX. My mother suggested I wear the sweater when they arrived to show how much I loved it. I was appalled. I screamed and bawled and kicked and refused. In the end, I wore the sweater, but it wasn't for me. It was for Grandma.
Another one of my bittersweet memories involving grandma was when I had gone exploring behind Larry and Connie's house at the ripe old age of 7. I climbed down into the little canyon that slopes behind where the cows are. It had been raining and there was an abundance of mud. When I arrived back at grandma's house I was refused entrance because my pants were covered in mud. I told grandma I would go upstairs and change but she insisted I remove my pants before entering the house. Again, more tears. (Why are tears such a prevalent part of my grandma memories?)
The next major memory I have of Grandma and Grandpa is when we went visit them in Mesa, AZ after my dad died. They lived in a small trailer in a trailer park that included such amenities as shuffle board and community art classes. We were there on Conference Weekend. I remember that because Arizona doesn't have Daylight Savings Time and when we went to the church to watch conference we arrived an hour late. It was also Easter weekend because the Ten Commandments was on T.V. We watched the movie while we had popcorn and summer sausage on crackers. While we were in Mesa we went with Grandma and Grandpa to the Mesa Temple Pageant and afterwards we went to Dairy Queen (I got a banana split).
At the end of our visit Grandma and Grandpa caravanned with us back to Utah. When we almost got to Lake Powell Grandpa changed lanes and forgot to turn off his blinker. After about an hour later we finally got him to turn it off, but not before laughing about it.
I remember brushing grandpa’s hair with Stacie on several occasions and putting a lot of hair bows in his hair (we did this even as he napped).
Grandma and Grandpa taught me everything I know about Shoot the Moon and Scrabble. I remember always wanting to play cards with Grandma and Grandpa at the farmhouse. I remember one Sunday night in particular when Grandpa was hesitant in playing cards, but I kept pressing him to play. Finally he agreed. It wasn’t until after we started playing that grandma divulged that he didn’t like playing cards on the Sabbath. I felt bad.
On another occasion my friend Tyler was with us at the farm and we were all playing Shoot the Moon. The game was close, culminating in the final hand. Tyler referred to this hand as the “pivotal” hand. Grandma got a kick out of that. To this day she refers to any decisive hand, round, or game as being “pivotal.”
I remember Grandma and Grandpa’s old gray van. It smelled strongly of mints and they had the beaded seat covers. I also remember Grandma’s red and white bag that looked like it was made of red and white marbles sewn together.
My birthday was a good day for many reasons, but the favortiest of which was opening the envelope with the Canadian stamp on it because I knew I would be getting one dollar for every year I was alive. It was a sad day when those stopped coming every year (to date Grandma and Grandpa owe me $287).
More recently, I remember several years ago Grandma and Grandpa came to Utah. We were all at Mona’s house sitting in the front room talking. I remember Grandma and Grandpa holding hands and thinking to myself that I needed to find a pretty good wife if I wanted to still be holding hands at their age.
A little while later I remember calling grandma when I was thinking about proposing to my wife. She told me a lot of things, but the thing I remember most is she said that my dad would be proud and that he would approve.
A few months after we were married, we were all at the Cardston Temple. A large group of us were talking in the Celestial Room, including Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa went to sit down on the couch, but missed and landed on his knees. By the time Grandma turned to see what was going on, Grandpa had turned to face the couch and began to push himself up. Grandma, not whispering, exclaimed, “What are you doing, Lawrence? Sayin’ your prayers?” It was at this time that we all excused ourselves to leave in order to maintain reverence in the temple.
I remember how happy I was both when Grandma got her iMac and when Grandpa got his iPad. I think I have the coolest grandparents ever.
There isn’t a time go by, when visiting Canada, that I don’t get a chance to play Grandma in Scrabble-- aside from the times we play Scrabble on Facebook. We always do best two out of three, and it usually always comes down to the “pivotal” game. There is nothing I love more than to watch Grandma cry when I beat her in Scrabble (looking back on these memories, I think I am subconsciously getting back at her for making me cry all of those times in my youth).
We love you Grandma & Grandpa.
Love- The Feller’s Shon, Vinnie, Scoty, Rylee, Baby
