You are my sunshine
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Staff Column
By Carissa Sitki
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream.
For some reason that nursery rhyme came to mind as I sat down to write a eulogy for my grandmother who I lost last week. And funnily enough I can hear her voice singing this to me when I was a little girl. The way she sang the word “merrily” was so funny to me.
Public speaking always terrifies me, but here is what I wrote and read in front of family, friends, and acquaintances this week at my grandmother’s visitation:
I’m the seventh born grandchild of Anna ‘Louise’ Sitki and I’m going to share a little bit about my grandma.
Anyone who knew my grandma knows that she never knew a stranger. When I would go somewhere with her, it was like she drew in a crowd. And as much as people loved her, she sure seemed to love everyone right back… even people she probably didn’t like all that much– she naturally made people feel warm.
Grandma was a real TALKER. I’ve always considered myself to be a talker, but she would give me a run for my money any day of the week. Perhaps, that’s where I got it from.
Any of my friends who knew my grandma or met her even briefly, would say something like, ‘I love your grandma,’ or ‘your grandma is the sweetest,’ or ‘your grandma seems so young, or my personal favorite, ‘your grandma is hilarious.’ Because she sure was. Until the very last time I talked with her, she made me laugh.
All of these facts about Louise Sitki paint a picture of a sweet lady with a laid back life. While the former is true, the latter, not so much.
My Grandma was born on a farm, so one could say she was born working. She spent her childhood helping out on the farm before graduating at 17 and starting a job with a publishing company. She then went on to raise six children– talk about WORK. She helped my grandpa with rental properties, took care of her mother and father for several years, and I’m sure so much more that I can’t even speak upon because I wasn’t there. But I rarely ever saw her rest. She so diligently took care of my grandpa when he got sick and I’m sure it was her nurturing and pure devotion that kept him with us as long as he was. On top of that, she juggled babysitting duty for more than a dozen grandchildren over the span of 30 plus years.
My favorite memory of my grandma was a trip we took to Milwaukee, just the two of us, to her brother’s granddaughter, Katrina’s wedding. It was 2011, my senior year of high school, and I remember feeling very thankful for that time with her. We stayed in the same hotel as the Chicago Cubs who were in town that weekend for a series against the Brewers. Okay, maybe not the exact same hotel, but it’s an inside joke and it will take too long to explain.
Here are a few interesting things I’ve learned about my grandma over the years:
She grew up in the small town of St. Patrick, Mo.;
She was the great-great-great-great… something niece of Daniel Boone
She had a very sheltered upbringing;
She had a pet horse;
Her family didn’t have electricity or a phone when she was little (and this fact really threw off my understanding of the industrial revolution, thinking electricity wasn’t invented until the 1940s);
She enjoyed playing cards with her family by candlelight when she was a girl. Her dad would always choose her to be his partner. She really loved her dad;
She was quite artistic and had a knack for drawing in her younger years;
She played on the basketball team at her high school;
When she graduated high school, she moved to Quincy for work and then to Springfield for a better-paying job. That move brought her to my handsome grandfather;
She worked in publishing for two companies;
She and grandpa traveled to Mississippi to elope because they could get a same-day marriage license (she told me that she didn’t think grandpa was serious as they were driving down. It wasn’t until they walked into the jewelry store to buy the rings that she started to realize he was going to go through with it);
She loved music and karaoke and had the most fearlessly electric stage presence;
Here are a few things everyone knew about her:
She loved the color purple;
She would tell stories to anyone who would listen;
She enjoyed playing slots;
She was Irish and cherished St. Patrick’s Day;
She always celebrated her children and grandchildrens’ successes (she was so proud of all of us);
She was the first one to arrive at a party and the last to leave.
And finally, if you were her grandchild, here are a few random things you may remember about her from your childhood:
She would always play with you, whether it was a sport like badminton or wiffle ball, or a board game like Sorry or Connect Four, she was always ready;
Her cookie jar was always full;
She marked our heights on the wall in the kitchen entryway;
There were always cats or some other animal hanging around her house;
Walks to Peace’s Candy Shop;
Milkshakes;
Watching movies like Lion King (which she probably sat through at least 300 times with me alone);
Getting pushed on the tire swing;
Her cooking, but also trips to McDonalds;
Coordinated Christmas gifts;
And most of all, her unconditional love and support.
Alright, so that was fun, but all good things must come to an end. And I’m talking about this column because my grandma’s passing isn’t the end. I would have loved for her to be able to be physically present at my wedding next month, but I know she will be there in spirit, dancing with my grandfather.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.
