Happy 92nd Birthday, Grandma!!

Today would be my Grandma's 92nd birthday. Monday was nine years since she left us. I miss her every day but she has especially been on my mind lately with these two anniversaries so I thought I would share a little bit about her.

Phyllis Ann Bartley Lewis Gieseke

Phyllis Ann Bartley was born February 13, 1927 to Walter and Dora Bartley. She was five years younger than her brother, Johnny. Walter worked as a truck driver for an oil company and Dora was a homemaker. Grandma was very close with her parents and she adored her mother.

Walter, Johnny, Dora and Phyllis - 1932

On December 8, 1945, she married Roger Ambrose Lewis only a month after he returned from the war. She wanted nothing more than to be a wife and a mother and just two years after they were married, my dad, Scott, was born. Two more boys, Craig and Jeff, completed their family. Just a month before their 27th wedding anniversary, my grandfather died suddenly. 

Roger and Phyllis Lewis on their wedding day

Years after my grandfather died, Grandma was reunited with her high school sweetheart, Stan Gieseke. She was widowed and he was going through a divorce and their love was rekindled. On December 19, 1980 they were married.

Stan and Phyllis Gieseke on their wedding day

Family was everything to my grandma. She loved to cook, kept a home like June Cleaver, and loved to play cards. Their cabin on Pipe Lake in Cumberland, Wisconsin was her favorite place and such a huge part of my childhood. I used to love my week at the cabin with just my grandma and Stan. My favorite part of the week was when she would pull out her blue trunk of old photos and tell me stories about her family, her teenage years, growing up and raising a family. Oh how I wish I would have kept a notebook of her stories!!

The later years of her life were difficult as they had to leave the cabin they loved so much to move back to the cities for health reasons. Grandma passed peacefully on February 11, 2010, surrounded by her boys and Stan.

I loved my grandma more than she could ever know. I still feel guilty for not spending more time with her once I started a family of my own. I was so lucky to have had her for almost 40 years!! And I am so happy she was a part of my girls lives and that they have memories of her and the lake. I love you and miss you, Grandma!!

Grandma and her boys - Scott, Craig and Jeff

Me and Grandma on my wedding day - 1995

Grandpa and Grandma with my girls - 2000