I think I spent my first night away from home w/ my Grandma. She was my mom's mother and was a mere 10 years older than I am right now. I think she was in her early 60's but I say" back then"...she looked and acted like she was way older. I think she also remained like that memory for the rest of my childhood. Grandmas back in the 1950's and 1960's just didn't dress like they do these days. I had her to spoil me back then. I was the youngest of 6 kids and loved the attention she would lavish on me. She let me bake w/ her in her kitchen and I think most of my memories are of her and I in that kitchen. We did alot of meal preparation. To her fixing a meal -3 times a day for her husband was her duty. Her utmost responsibility was to put a good homecooked..hot meal on that table. I can shut my eyes to this day and describe that kitchen and it's aroma of smells can still wake me up in the middle of night. She was a good cook. She was patient and tolerant of my little hands in that kitchen. She wanted to teach me her way and have me learn for my future. I stayed quite a few nights over the next 10 years w/ her and felt so blessed to be able to have her to myself. She was the one who taught me to clean the windows w/ vinegar and water and dry them w/ newspapers. She had no problem having me climb the ladders to clean all the windows inside either. She never learned to drive a car so I remember having her home all the time at my beck and call. I invited myself over to spend a night on alot of weekends. My folks probably thought why not? I was the last of the gang and I needed some attention of my own!
My Grandma was short and didn't wear alot of make-up and wore her hair plain. She was in a house dress and those "grandma black shoes" that alot of older women wore back then. I don't think I will EVER dress that part or want to be that old when I am now that age myself. I think I learned alot from this quaint little lady and I valued her oppinion from my first memory. She would let me play house w/ all her old toys she had saved and let me color my own books for hours. She made me my favorite dishes for supper each weekend and just gave me so many childhood memories that I still savor.
They even had a trapeze dangling from the basement ceiling and I never would go in that basement without swinging on it a day. My grandma had it put there to exercise her broken arm and after it mended my Grandpa left it for the grandkids to play on.
I hope I leave a remarkable life of memories w/ my own grandkids I am now helping to raise up and be with as many days as I possibly can. After all...isn't their heritage what they will need for the rest of their lives?
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