When I was a little girl and my family would go on the weekend to see my grandparents who lived a short 10 minute drive away, I wasn’t always looking forward to visiting. I loved them, of course, but I was a typical kid and there wasn’t much to do there. Mostly, I wanted to be home to play with my toys and my friends.
There was one bit of spice there that I did look forward to; however, someone who was always full of stories and fun ~ my great grandmother.
Grandma, who must have been in her 70s at the time, lived with my maternal grandparents. She was the type of person who vibrated with positive energy ~ small and spunky and always dressed in a Lucy Ricardo-type dress with panty hose and sensible shoes.
Intriguing.
One of the strongest memories I have is of her boogyin’ with my sister and me down the street ~ almost a mile ~ to the Baskin Robbins where they had 31 flavors of ice cream to choose from, served in little cups with little pink spoons.
Although I enjoyed trying the new flavors of ice cream, my favorite has been mint chocolate chip for as long as I can remember ~ so I didn’t entirely go for the ice cream.
I went for the ice cream, the pink spoons and the walk with my grandma.
Little did I realize then, how precious this memory would be.
So now when I see a Baskin Robbins advertisement, I don’t crave ice cream ~ I long for a brisk walk with my spunky grandma.
What is your strongest memory of your grandmother? What triggers that memory today?
The smell of fresh-baked bread reminds me of my great-grandmother’s kitchen. Thanks for the sweet post, Kim….
That’s a great smell ~ thanks for sharing
Raspberries, because my grandmother had a huge raspberry bush behind her house. She’d freeze some just so she’d have some for my mid-winter visits, because she knew they were my favorite! Oh, and crocheting. She forced my sisters and I to learn how to crochet and I ended up making more than a dozen afghans.
Aww ~ how sweet. Grandmas are so thoughtful like that. I’m sure you cherish those afghans too
Thanks for sharing.
The way her shoulders bounced up and down as she silently laughed; her thriftiness, even saving a piece of thread for later use; her amazing spitting talent — yep, she was a snuff user and could out-spit the best of them!!
That’s awesome! The thing about grandmas is they get to a certain age and they’re like ~ “I am what I am” ~ love that. Thanks for sharing your nice memories
Funny you should write this now – my grandmother’s birthday was this week though she passed away last January. I’ve been thinking about her a lot this week and old memories have been floating to the surface at unexpected moments. My grandmother was tiny – I’m 5’4″ and I towered over her – but that didn’t stop her from doing anything. She had a contagious laugh and always doted on my sisters and I whenever we’d go to visit her. I loved going down to her barn to feed the horses (who were well over twice her size). The sweet scent of hay reminds me of her. Thanks for sharing your memories.
I’m sorry about your grandmother, Tami.. Sounds like she was pretty spunky herself! Thanks for sharing your memories about her
Sweet peas and pansies. My grandmother always had sweet peas at the side of their house and pansies along the walk and I have always both in our yard. She was my teacher for my first six years of school and loved teaching. She lived to be 102 and even after dementia had robbed her of most of her memories I’d go visit her in assisted living and she’d be reciting multiplication tables to herself. “Can’t teach the youngsters their numbers if I can’t remember them myself.”
I can smell the flowers from here. Sweet! What a great tribute to her that she kind of lives on in your garden. It’s cruel what time sometimes does to the mind of the aged and the wise.. Thanks for coming by to share, Helen
So many things… opera and vanilla slices and beautiful things (antiques, ornaments, furniture). We were very close and, as I was the eldest granddaughter, she used to take me on special outings as a child. I have many of her things in my house — from an old plastic colander (I’d just moved and didn’t have one!) to the sofa I’m sitting on now to pieces of silver in my cabinet. They remind me of her often.
That’s so nice that you have many memories of her ~ that relationship is so unique and special. Thanks for coming by and sharing, Ellen
My grandma has been gone for over 10 years, but I swear I caught her scent the other day and it just took my mind back. There’s no specific memory that stands out, just a longing that we could spend some time together today. Thanks for linking up with Write on Edge this weekend. It’s nice to meet someone new.
Smells are so powerful ~ aren’t they? Thanks for sharing about your grandma