Grandma was born April 10th 1923. She was 85 years old when she passed away. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandma, aunt, sister, and finally a friend. She was a mother to 8 rotten boys. One being my dad. Only a strong woman can deal with that many boys. My grandma loved to write. She would write poems, songs, letters, and stories. She was married to Robert (Bob) Bates. He is still currently living he will be 90 in march. They were maarried when my grandma was just 19yrs old. So they were married for a very long time you do the math. When my grandpa was in the navy in world war II grandma took care of the house and kids. As a child she went through struggles. Struggles most of us couldn't even dream of. But she turned her struggles into learning experiences. But her struggling didn't stop there. One of her boys died at birth, Roger one of her other boys died when working on a vehicle, and yet another son died years later. She handled these deaths extremely well. She was a tough woman! There wasn't anything that could hold her back. She always said "I never had any girls of my own, that's why I have grandaughters." Grandma was a very active member in her church for as long as i can remember. She hardly ever missed church until she became to sick. She was always taking walks around the block by the house. I don't know if it was to keep in shape or if it was just something she enjoyed. But she always enjoyed having company whether it be on her walks or just a few moments of your time. She never seemed to want for anything. She didn't dwell on the things she didn't have but rejoiced in the things she did have. And talk about an amazing cook. She made the best food you could ever taste. Everyone says nothing compares to grandmas cooking. Well I will vouge for that. She made the best homemade noodles I've ever had. To this day when i make noodles I think of her covered in flour from head to toe laughing and talking enjoying doing things for others. When I was getting ready to be a freshman in highschool my parents, little brother, and I moved in with grandma and grandpa to help them out. Grandma was still ok at this time. She was still trying to do things on her own she was struggling with it a little but none the less she got it done. It wasn't long before she became incapable of doing things for herself. This was very hard for her because she was a very independent peerson. And now she had to rely on other people to do things for her. I spent my days helping around the house and most importantly I spent the majority of my time with my grandma. I took the risk of failing my freshman yr of highschool to stay home and bath grandma, fix he rhair, do her nails, cook her food, and just all around make her feel special and important like she did so many times for other people. Needless to say I did end up failing my freshman yr, but you know what it was worth it. I'd do it again to this day just because I love her. But don't worry i ended up making up those credits and graduated on time. It was extremely hard for me to do especially because what should've been the summer before my sophmore yr my grandma passed away. So, in delaing with all my heart ache I was also trying to continue making her proud by completeing my required courses to graduate on time. mY grandma always knew I wanted to be a nurse. And she used to tell me I woud make a good one. I made a promise to her before she died that I would further my education make her proud and become a nurse. I am now attending school full time to become a nurse and I'm now thinking I might go even farther and become a doctor one day. But this is all for her I know she's looking down on me smiling with pride. And I just want everyone to know that my grandma bubbles may not be hear physically but she will NEVER be gone. To this day from time to time I feel the touch of her hand, her heart warming hugs, and the sound of her voice whispering in the wind.