‘Grandma’s Life Lessons’ wins state DAR essay contest

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By Amantha Garpiel

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PIQUA — Annette Stewart, member of the Piqua Lewis Boyer Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), won the Ohio Society Daughters of the American Revolution Women’s Issue Essay Contest in the family issue category with her essay titles “Grandma’s Life Lessons,” and was presented with her award on Tuesday, April 11, at the Piqua Lewis Boyer DAR meeting.

She chose to share the story of her relationship with her grandmother, Inez Brumbaugh, of Arcanum, in her essay to highlight and share the inspirational personality of her grandmother, to go along with the topic of celebrating and caring for women.

This particular essay contest is a national level contest that begins at the state level. Stewart won the state level in Ohio and is moving on to the division contest and, hopefully, the national level.

“It was entitled ‘Grandma’s Life Lessons,’ I wrote this as a tribute and a remembrance to my grandma, my mother’s mother, who I spent a lot of time with, visited. She was just an inspiration to me with her life,” said Stewart. “My grandma has always stood out because of the example (she led) and the kind of person that she was. We shared a special relationship and friendship there so I decided to write about that. She had a lot of good stories and funny things that she used to say.”

Stewart raised her own children on the family farm and still lives there today. The family farm in Arcanum is also where her grandmother raised her mother and where her mother raised Stewart and her siblings.

“It’s been several generations that have lived here. So, I think that is what’s kind of neat, is keeping the farm legacy going and the family generational tradition there,” said Stewart.

In her essay, Stewart remembered the loss of her grandfather, just two years after she was born, and how her grandmother continued to, almost single-handedly, run the family farm that has been passed down and is now owned by Stewart. She remembered her grandmother teaching her how to can food and grow her own garden and the time they spent working together and with Stewart’s mother. She recalls the inspiration she felt from watching her grandmother with her friends and other relationships and how she continues to instill the concept of communicating and working through issues with loved ones today.

“May her legacy live on through our lives and families down through the next generations. May our faith be strengthened, may we realize that hard times will come and pass, may we persevere, may we rise up to meet today’s challenges, may we encourage others, may we walk beside those going thru difficult times and dark waters. May we love, live, forgive and extend grace and a helping hand to others: the new bride, mother, fellow worker or volunteer,” Stewart wrote in her essay. “My grandmother inspired me and I hope that I inspire those around me! Each of us can be an inspiration.”

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