On top of all the candy I placed our latest bunch of bananas. I commented to Greg that maybe, just maybe we'd eat a banana instead of candy when reaching up on top of the fridge.
This brought to mind a memory of his... how at his Dee Dee's house you always had to have a banana (or other piece of fruit) before you could have a cookie.
I've known Greg for 12 years and have never heard that story!
And it got me to thinking about visiting my own grandparents as a kid.
One grandmother always read us Dr. Seuss books. Reading some of those books to my boys still reminds me of spending the night at their house. At the same house, an afternoon nap was a staple. And always with an oscillating fan. Even today, the sound of an oscillating fan makes me remember nap-time there.
At the other grandparents' house, there was the little green wind-up turtle (and blue wind-up whale) to play with in the bathtub. I named the turtle 'Her'. So original.
And I loved asking Nana to play games, not only to play the games, but also because I could count on her answers. Ask to play 'Sorry' and the answer was "Nope! Sorry!" Ask to play 'Uno' and she'd say "Oooh, no!"
But if memory serves me correctly we'd end up playing anyway. If not one of those games, then it might be gin rummy, chinese checkers, or side-by-side playing our own games of Solitaire.
I even remember visiting my great-grandmother some. One of the things I remember most about visiting Mammaw was fig newtons in a tin. :)
I am very blessed to have two sets of living grandparents for my children to get to know and develop their own special memories.
Nana & Alan, spring 2007
3 comments:
I LOVED my great grandma. She was the best! And I grew up thinking, and still think to this day, that when I have grandchildren, I want to be just like my Great Grandma.
She let me dress up in her clothes and ring the doorbell and pretend like I was a visitor.
She played mail man with me. I would write letters and drop them into the mail slot that was outside in the front yard and it would drop into her dining room.
She made me honey toast, egg sandwhiches, and her special casserole.
She made peanut butter cookies with me and let me make the criss cross with the fork.
She gave me my own little white rose bush in her garden.
She let me find bugs in her cellar.
She played darts with me.
She let me look through her flower books and told me about all of them.
She played with me all the time...we played blocks, school (I was the teacher), and store.
She let me light a match and drop it into the toilet when I had gone to the bathroom so it wouldn't stink. :)
She let me play with all her jewelry.
She would give me 1/4 a stick of Trident gum so I wouldn't choke.
She let me sleep in her bed.
She let me jump on her guest room feather bed.
She taught me that inside each pansie, there is a little man wearing a choir robe.
She gave me a "bye-bye" cookie each time I would leave.
When I'd get to her house, she would say, "Hi, Hi, Hi!"
She let me eat butter (yuck!...but I guess I liked it then).
She taught me dominoes and twidley winks.
She had the most pretty brown eyes and it wasn't until she got sick and had been in the hospital for several weeks that I realized her hair wasn't really brown but grey.
She gave me her 100% attention at all times. She only made me sit quietly twice a day...during her soap opera (The Edge of Night) and when she watched the Lawerence Welk show (I have no idea what that was even about).
She watched me from the time my dad went to work till when he got off each weekday.
She loved me so much and I loved her so much.
She died when I was 14.
I still miss her!
This makes me smile smile smile! Funny that you should post this today, just yesterday I was nostalgic for my childhood. The smell of a vacuum-up carpet cleaner made me think of Taylor street. That little trigger sent me down a bunny trail of many childhood memories.
Also, I had no idea that you named that turtle! Haha, do you think it is still there?
p.s. i love that picture. :)
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