Remembering Grandma | Lorene Oliver 9/19/24 – 3/27/13
This week, my grandmother, Lorene Oliver, went to see Jesus. She graced the world with her presence for an awesome 88 years, and she’ll always be known for the smile you see below, and her faithfulness to the Lord, her church, and her family.
Lorene Oliver
9/19/24 – 3/27/13
When I was growing up, I remember Grandma lived a simple life. Whether she was frying up fish that Papa Helton caught, or tending to her flowers (which she loved so much!), she loved to take it easy and just enjoy her surroundings.
When I was young, Grandma used to attend a really small church. A couple of times a year, they would have a church wide lunch and singing. She always asked me to come and sing. She was so proud to hear me sing, and she always wanted me to share my voice with the members of her church.
This lady could make a MEAN chocolate pie. Even after she stopped baking, I once asked her to bring one to Thanksgiving anyway. She was embarrassed that it didn’t look as pretty as the ones she used to make, but rest assured, there wasn’t a morsel of the pie left when the festivities were over!
In high school, Grandma had a little house built right past the tree line on our family property. When I say little, I mean little. It was a tiny little house, just for her and Papa. We were fortunate to be able to walk over to her house, or her ours, any time we wanted, and she loved to talk about how our day was going, and how our relationships were. She always loved to hear about our boyfriends! From time to time, said boyfriends would mow her lawn or help her with some little project she had going, especially after Papa passed away. She was so happy when we all got married!
In college, I remember coming home on the weekends and talking with Grandma about our “stories”. We’d talk about how Stefano died.. again. How Hope and Bo broke up… again. And how we could skip Days of our Lives for a month and start watching again and never really miss anything.
Grandma never really liked weathermen! In her mind, they would lie. One weekend, there was a church function planned, and it was supposed to be sunny. They’d been telling her all week that it was going to be a nice sunny day. When it rained on the day of the event, Grandma let us know really quickly that the weatherman flat out lied to her. There was no changing her mind! She was cute and quirky like that!
When she was younger, she worked as a waitress at a place (I recently learned the name) called the Pig Stand. She would bring home silver dollars and fifty cent pieces, and every time we’d visit, she’d give one to all of us. We thought it was awesome. After we grew up and had kids, when she’d see our kiddos, she’d give them all $10 bills. She always made sure, before coming to holidays or gatherings, that she had enough $10 bills to pass down to all of the great grandchildren.
When I was in college, I worked at a convenient store, and I’ll never forget… rather than calling me a cashier or even telling people that I worked at a convenient store, she would tell people that I was a “short order cook”! My mom and I still laugh about that to this day, but that’s what she saw in the job, because that’s what it was called when she was working.
This photo was taken of us last year in July when I went to go eat lunch with her. She didn’t know who I was, but she had a sense of humor, was giggly, that day, and we had a really great visit!
Last week, when I went to visit her with my mom and Kylie, although she didn’t know who I was or what I was saying, I told her that I had no idea that her hair was straight! She never walked out of her house without it fixed and a half of a can of Aquanet on it! It was always permed, and it was always dyed dark! I’m not sure which I like most. Permed and dark or straight and white! <3
Grandma left behind a sister, two kids, four grandkids, and nine great grandkids to keep her memory alive. We loved her dearly, and we’re so thankful that she’s now in a place where there’s no more Alzheimer’s or dementia.
We will miss you, Grandma.
my mom has early stages of Alzheimer’s and it is such a horrible disease to have to deal with. I am sorry for your loss, but glad she has moved on from that disease.
Hugs and love to you, Lisa.
I don’t even know your Grandma Lorene but this post makes me love her! This is beautiful, Lisa. I’m so sad that she’s no longer here with you to create more memories with. However, I’m happy for all of the beautiful memories you do have and even happier that she’s with Jesus now and He has taken the Alzheimer’s and dementia away and replaced it with a new, healthy Lorene who will dwell with Him for eternity.