Who Influences You?

Grandpa Roy and Grandma Lucille Nofziger

Dear friend,

I hope you'll indulge me while I get a little personal today. I want to share about one of the most influential people in my life, a woman from whom I received good taste, discernment and sensitivity.

My grandmother went to be with Jesus on Saturday. She was 97 years old. She had been strong and healthy for her entire life until she broke her hip on Easter Sunday. Even though I haven't lived near her for almost twenty years, I will miss her immensely.

Grandma working on the farm as a young girl.

Grandma lived on a farm about four miles from the farm on which I grew up, and she came over frequently to help my mom and dad raise us four kids. She played a big part in my young life. I was her oldest granddaughter. Even as I got married and moved away, I always knew she was continually praying for me.

My two cousins standing beside Grandma holding me.

She taught me things like how to take a bath and how to wash dishes ("wash the cleanest parts first"), and the proper way to "rid the table" (wash the table and counter-tops twice: first with a hot, soapy, dripping-wet cloth to get the crumbs and soften the sticky stuff, second to collect the remaining sticky stuff, and finally dry it to a shine with a clean towel). She tried to teach me how to sew, mend, and quilt too, but I never took to it. How I could use those skills now!

Grandma is helping Grandpa in his business.

Grandma had a good work ethic. She believed that behind every good man was a good woman. She dedicated her life to her husband and family living out Proverbs 31:10-31: "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life...."

I'll never forget the time I got to ride with Grandpa and Grandma to one of their customer's farms to collect an overdue bill. We ended up on a dusty turkey farm with loud, scraggly-looking turkeys running around everywhere.

This is how I picture my refined grandma and 4-year-old wide-eyed me standing amidst all those birds squawking at us while Grandpa was speaking softly and respectfully in a kind and gentle way to the debtor.

Grandma, Mom, me, Dad and Grandpa.

Grandma was one of my biggest cheerleaders. "You can do it!" she would encourage. When I won a state treasurer position in the Ohio FFA organization in 1982, Grandpa and Grandma were right there with Mom and Dad in the state capitol to congratulate me on the achievement.

Dad and Grandma in 2008.

Grandma was an elegant, sophisticated, and worldly woman in our small, rural community. I was told she had been raised in a well-to-do family. During her junior year in high school she left school for a year and they traveled across the country to California and back. That must have been quite a trip in the early 1930s.

She was also gentle and sweet. She did not want to be a bother or inconvenience to anyone. Although she was shy and did not like a fuss being made over her, she was unflappable. She conveyed cool confidence even under pressure.

My nephew with Grandma still looking elegant in 2009.

It was from Grandma that I inherited good taste. She is the one who taught me that quality reigns over quantity, and "make the most of what you have" (less is more). Appearances, respectability, and first impressions were paramount. Reputations could not be reversed easily once sullied. She was humble, but deep down inside, I know she had a preference for the finer things in life, and she passed that on to me.

Rest assured, Grandma and Grandpa are rejoicing that they are once again united. While I do grieve my loss, I celebrate her new inheritance in Heaven. I am thankful for all the time I was privileged to spend with her, and for all that she has given me. 

Grandma helped mold me into who I am today, and her influence affects my work, the clothing I order for you, my dressing recommendations, and my style. I guess ultimately her influence affects you, too.

With love,

Renee