My Grandparents Home...

I was in my hometown the other day so I drove by my grandparents home to see if it looked as I remembered it. And of course it did not. It was much smaller than I remembered. And it looked so run down.

Grandma loved her flowers and they were so beautiful. And the front porch was always so cool and such a pleasant place to sit and wait for the mailman. And of course my grandmother always had a tall glass of something cold for him to drink. I would love to go inside and see if it is as I remember.

Funny the things that stick in your mind. I remember walking up the steep hill after taking swim lessons on cold mornings to Grandma's house to dry off. And I remember daddy dropping off us kids in a mad rush to get mom to the hospital to have a baby. And I remember Grandma's salmon patties and lemon pies and sour kraut with hot dogs. And I remember here is where I found a lump in my breast and thought I was going to die of breast cancer but was too afraid to ask anybody about it, only to find out I was going through puberty and that "lump" was a normal part of growing up! I remember picking little blue flowers that always grew in her yard and lying down in the grass and rolling down the hill in her side yard. And I remember she had a Mimosa Tree in her side yard and for some reason I don't like Mimosa Trees. Memories are funny things.

And here's my grandfather's shop. I remember he had some kind of old car like a Model T with a seat that slanted down on one side. And I remember Grandpa sitting under this tree using a grinding wheel to sharpen tools. And Grandpa and I loved to play a game called "Fox and Geese" by the hours. And my Grandpa once lived on a farm and everyone said he raised the largest watermelons you ever saw. And I never remember him ever wearing anything but a pair of overalls. He had a pocket watch that he would pull out of the overalls and tell me it had diamonds in it and when he was "gone" it would go to me. And of course it didn't. But hopefully, it did stay in the family.


Here's a picture of me holding the baby of the family in front of my grandfather's shop. I remember playing on that bench under the tree. Looks like the tree grew in the almost 50 years since that picture was taken!

Sad to say, I haven't kept up very good with my father's side of the family. Cousins that I have not seen since childhood have moved away and I don't know where they live now.

I think I'm beginning to ramble. Hope you all do a better job of staying in touch with relatives than I have. It's important to have more than just memories as time goes on. We need to have relationships!!