Blogger: Traci LeBrun: July 2018

I’m going to try to put into words what really can’t be expressed with words. Things that are better expressed with a hug, or a warm cup of coffee, or a “hello dear” on the other end of the phone. But I’m going to try.

Grandma Dorie was many things to many people, but this is my story and just

the tip of the iceberg of who she was and what she has meant to me.

Grandma lived through the Great Depression. The eighth grade was her last

year in school as she took a job in a sewing factory in Minneapolis to help
support the family. She never went back to school to earn her GED, but it didn’t
affect how she she thoughtfully gave advice and carefully gleaned information
from the world around her, often giving a witty retort on the subject of politics.

Grandma and Uncle Frank

She lived long enough to see the culture change, some ways for the better and

many ways for the worse she would say. In the 96 years she was alive, she

also lived long enough to have many heartaches. When her second oldest son,

my father, went into prison, it broke her heart. And likely broke my grandfather’s

heart in a more literal way as he died of a heart attack shortly after the event.

Grandma not only lost a son, who would spend the rest of his life in prison, but

also lost her husband. She was now a widow. But my mother was also a widow

in another sense. So their best option was to sell their homes and combine

households.

Mora was only an hour and a half from where they were but far enough away to

remove them from a painful past and start over. By the time we left the cities, I

was eleven. My grandma had bought me a pony, named Patches, when I was

five and too young then to enjoy an animal like that, but Grandma thought I was

old enough now.

My first pony given to me by Grandma and Grandpa Bailey

She got herself a horse and one for me as well to bring up to the farm. They

rented a trailer, borrowed a truck and headed up to Mora, the three of us:

Grandma, Mom and me. It had just been us for a few years prior to this, and it

would just be us after that on the farm.

Where my dad left off, Grandma stepped in. She taught me many “manly”

things as best as she could. I first learned to use a circular saw from Grandma

Dorie as she built stalls in the barn for the horses. She gardened, mowed the

lawn, stacked wood, stoked the furnace early in the morning before we woke,

cared for the horses, shoveled snow, cooked meals, cleaned, did laundry,

canned vegetables, and many other things. She was a true pioneer woman.

Grandma at our Coon Rapids house

As I grew into a teenager, I’m quite sure it was a challenge. But never did

Grandma complain. I don’t remember one time she was upset with me. Not

one raised voice. Unconditional love was all I felt from her.

Not only was she there for me, but she was there for my mom. Maybe she felt

responsible for us in the absence of my dad. I’m not sure. But she went above

and beyond to make sure we were taken care of. Many rides to town for sports

practices, 4-H meetings, choir concerts, play practices and many times picking

up the slack when I shirked my duties in the barn or around the house to run off

with friends.

A trip to Kansas

As I had my own family, she was more than just Great Grandma to my kids.

She would play with the boys, often having wrestling matches with them. I

don’t know many grandmas that do this. We purchased land from my mom

and grandma, moved back home, and lived in my old room while our house

was being built just up the hill from where I grew up. The kids would walk
down the hill from our new home to grandma's house, spending much

of their time there. Each school day, they would get off the bus at grandma's

house and watch cartoons and eat snacks. These were the best times I can

ever remember.

Her and my mom were often benevolent to those in their church who were in
need of a meal or companionship. That was their thing. They rarely missed a
ladies Bible study or church event.

We lived just up the hill from them in Mora for 11 years until my mom's health
deteriorated until the point where Grandma Dorie could no longer care for her.

She was a saint to my mom, being her caregiver and friend for many years.

As I got older, and my mom passed away, Grandma Dorie moved in with her

daughter, Annie. This brought her great joy. Grandma was still active and

helped around the house and did as much as she could for the family, and I

could tell enjoyed the doting that came with living with her only daughter. But

she was always just a phone call away and had now become both mom and

dad to me when I needed counsel or just to hear a voice that I’ve heard all my

life.

My mom, Luke, Ashton, Gracie and Grandma Dorie on a
boat ride in Duluth

Grandma was a role model. She was a hard worker working many jobs: one as

a housekeeper at the hospital and other jobs cleaning houses. This kept her

active and she would always say, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” She retired

from the hospital at the age of 80. And she was right, she kept going until the

end.

Just a week before she passed, she came back from congestive heart failure,

even after the nurse told me she had just hours to live. A few days later, we
were able to visit her in Kansas and she was back home walking and playing
with the dog and making coffee for the family again.

Grandma and her "shadow", Cuddles, just a week before
she passed away

But the last few days of her life, she was at peace. I wasn’t able to be there with

her then, but my aunt told me the pastor visited her. She told him that she had

been talking with God and saw Him and was ready to go home. Her breathing

wasn’t labored and she was at peace and singing songs as if to God himself.
Answers to prayer. And by her side, each holding a hand, was her oldest
son, Frank, who I was told called her faithfully every single night, and her daughter
who loved her dearly.

I am indebted to my Grandma for stepping in and taking the place of my father

and being there when he wasn't. She was always there, at every event, and

every turn of life. I will miss you more than you know, Grandma, but I know we

will see you on the other side if our faith is in the Lord Jesus.

Grandma and me at the Coon Rapids house

Grandma Dorie, me and Grandpa Chuck

Grandma as a newlywed

Grandma Dorie and my mom

Frank, Bobby, my dad, Annie and Grandma

In Coon Rapids with a new Bug

Me, Grandma and cousin Eric

Me and Grandma in Kansas

Grandma on the farm

Grandma Norlander and Grandma Dorie

Grandpa and Grandma Norlander, Grandma Dorie, me, and Mark

Grandma and Luke

Grandma, Ashton, my mom, and Gracie at a preschool concert in Mora

Grandma Dorie helping in the kitchen in our Fargo apartment after my college graduation

Grandma and baby Ashton at his baby shower at Fred and Barb's

Gracie and Ashton spent many hours in Grandma's room cuddling or getting spoiled with treats

Aunt Susie, Grandma and Uncle Frank at the farm

Grandma, Judy (Mark's mom), Eleanor (Lyle's aunt), my mom, me holding Gracie, Joli,
Barb and Irene (Lyle's mom) celebrating Mother's Day at Judy and Lyle's in Big Lake