The Chickadee

This morning I went on a run. I decided to walk up the final hill because I'm awesome. I always listen to music when I run, but I decided to take my headphone out and pretend I was having a leisurely walk and not going up the mountain of death. As soon as I took out my music I heard birds chirping right above my head. I looked up to see this tree full of Chickadees. 

The Chickadee has been my favorite bird for as long as I can remember because my grandmother, Mutti, always called us her Chickadees. Now I'm full of nostalgia and really missing her. A blog post will not suffice, but I wanted to write down a few of my favorite things about Mutti. 

• Mutti lived around the corner from us. If my mom couldn't find us at the house then she would call Mutti. We were usually there. 
• Some Saturdays I'd get so anxious to see Mutti I'd go over to her house before my Mom had done my hair. Mutti would always give me a hug and then walk me straight up to the bathroom where she'd do my hair. My Mom was always a little embarrassed when I'd come home from Mutti's with new ribbons and a fancy hairdo. 
• Mutti had an amazing backyard. It was so pretty that we spent one afternoon planning Chrissy's reception in the backyard. I think Chrissy was still in High School, but we had fun thinking it all up. Under her stairway there were some desks. We had so many "school" sessions back there. There was also a little picnic table where Jessie and I would eat our PB&J's and nicely cut carrot sticks. 
• Mutti's backyard had some raspberries, but most importantly it had a swing set.  I can still picture Mutti pushing me in that swing for hours singing songs about "Out in the Garden." 
• Mutti had the most amazing garden which she kept up by herself. We were sent over many times to help her with weeding, but she always refused our help. 
• Mutti did projects. Whether it was setting up a whole Patriotic Program, doing art projects (The painting at the top is a painting Mutti did.), making booties for her Great Grandkids, having other Widows over, teaching Deacons about the sacredness of the Sacrament, planning get-togethers with her siblings, traveling the world, or some many other things she was determined and pulled it all together. 
• Mutti made me a quilt for completing my Young Women's in Excellence. She made one for each of the Granddaughters. She passed away when I was 11 and hadn't even started Young Women's, but she had finished it years before. I remember the day when I went down in our basement and unwrapped my beautiful quilt. Whenever I pull out that quilt I see not only fabrics from my mom and aunt's childhood wardrobes, but I see hours of work and love.
• Mutti would come over for Sunday dinners. Sometimes I'd walk her back to her house and she would  tell me about each of the flowers and quiz me later on their names. 
• Mutti was a Rook card champion. She taught me so many games including Panjandrum, Gin Rummy, Golf, and so many others. 
• Mutti had this amazing candy jar, but we were limited to 2 each time we went over. I usually went with 2 of those Strawberry candies. 
• Mutti had Jessie and me come over for a sleepover one night. She was nice enough to let us sleep in her bed. I was too afraid to kick her to sleep, but it was so sweet of her. 
• Mutti was always learning. She would watch Jeopardy and know a lot of the answers. 
• Mutti was in our ward. That meant that during Sacrament Meeting she would play with my hair while I stared at the interesting lights. Then I was too old for that and she would just give me Smarties. Right after the Sacrament she would pull out her Smarties pack and use her beautiful nails to count down from the ends to the middle where she'd cut through and give me one half. One day she was called to be the Ward Chorister. I was so disappointed because I knew she wouldn't sit with us anymore. This was her last calling.  She would always walk to the very edge of the stand and without a Hymn book, she would lead us knowing the words to every song. I love trying to picture her up there leading the music every Sunday. It was fun when I was in my Aunt Patti's ward and I got to see her leading the music with the same enthusiasm and love. 
• Mutti had this beautiful picture in her bedroom for years. When I turned 14 my Aunt Margaret gave it to me. Now it hangs in my room. I'm so grateful to have this piece of her.  

Going back to the Chickadee - In Primary we were always asked how we could feel Heavenly Father's love for us. The primary song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" teaches all about the ways we can see and feel his love from the scent of a lilac tree to the touch of rain on our face. When I see the Chickadee I'm always overcome with not only Heavenly Father's love for me, but Mutti's.