Grateful #10

This is my Gram. (She's got my cousin's kids on her lap. They're cute little dumplings, aren't they?) Tomorrow, March 11, is the one-year anniversary of Gram's death. I still miss her so much. I know my grand-dad misses her so much. My mind and my heart are full this week, remembering and missing Gram.

I'm grateful that I had such a grandmother.

A few years ago I wrote a paper about Gram. It's about the things I remember about Gram from the time I was a little girl and on throughout my life. I got an A on the paper, and when I showed it to her Gram made all sorts of proud and approving comments. She asked me to give her a copy of it and I think she kept it. I don't know for a fact that she kept it, but in my mind, she kept it. In my mind she treasured it.

Reading over it again now, years later, I realize that I used the word "amazing" far too often. (I must have been channeling Katie Holmes at the time. Think back - remember when we had no idea who Katie Holmes was? Wasn't it nice? Wasn't it amazing?)

In remembrance of my Gram, I am posting the paper in parts over the next couple of days. Here's part 1:

Making Do

Gram’s house was so far away that it took more than one day to get there. We drove there for the Christmas holidays and summer vacations. I spent the many hours in the car with my parents, my brothers and sisters. We fought, we played games, and we looked out the window at the desert landscape. My mom always bought us comic books to read on the way, and looking back I can tell that she tried to make the time pass quickly for us. The last and most exciting part of the trip was a long driveway that curved up the steep side of a canyon. Gram’s house sat at the top; it was big like Gram was, and held many undisclosed treasures.

The first thing you saw coming up the drive was the door to Uncle Bob’s room. This room was separate from the house; it was right off the garage. How could a boy have his own room, a room not under the same roof as his parents? The garage and sheds were my grandfather’s domain. The big white Oldsmobile was there. Gram would take us for a ride in her car later. The back seat was big enough to hold all five of us kids, an amazing fact. In Gram’s yard there were flower gardens, towering pines, and lovely green lawns. She had a honeysuckle vine growing over the fence. Aunt Michele and I would pick the blossoms and suck out nectar like we did every summer. It was a beautiful place, and around the back I knew that there was a space to look into the darkness under the house. My siblings and I would be rediscovering that marvel before our visit was through. We had heard that skunks and other small animals sometimes hid under there and we scared ourselves as we wondered what we would see.

Inside Gram’s house it was dark and mysterious. There were innumerable drawers and cabinets paneled in dark wood. In Gram’s pantry there were space food sticks. She’d give us as many of the these sweet and chewy treats as we wanted, one at a time, and we’d look at the moon and speculate whether or not they were also being eaten by astronauts on the moon at that very moment.


Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow...