Grandparents

A woman I work with became a grandparent this week and two of my dearest friends, Jeff and Margaret Ann already are grandparents.  Gosh, that makes me feel old!  (For the record, they are young and fabulous looking grandparents.)  It got me thinking this week about how much I loved my grandparents and how important they were to me. 

I started picking through my pile of items for this blog and came across a yellow envelope packed with things that my Mom must have gathered from my grandmother's house after her death.  Its full of cards and letters I'd written to them, my wedding invitation, a small bible, a handkerchief (?), and a tiny A&P encyclopedia from 1901. 

My Pop Pop died in 1976 when I was in third grade and it was devastating.  He was my buddy.  Michelle and I slept over my grandparents house just about every Friday night so we spent alot of time with them.  He taught me letters and how to read.  I can still remember spelling C-A-T on his lap and having him smile and clap for me.  He was a farmer and he taught me to love to grow things in dirt I dug with my own two hands.  He took me crabbing and generally made me feel safe and very special.

Even when he was older, I remember how strong his shoulders and arms were.  He was fit and gardened all the time without a shirt on (typical New Jersey!) and I remember being fascinated by a big scar he had on his back from a liquid burn he got as a child.   Typically, this gave him an opportunity to remind me 100 times to stay away from the stove.

These poems were in the envelope and that's my grandmother's writing on the bottom.  Jennie is my cousin.  You can't see it in this image, but she's also written just my name next to the "Look, Grandma" poem.   I particularly love the Grandpa poem because we did spend so much time at the beach.

Here's a picture of them....with me peeking out from behind the chair.  I remember my mom didn't want me in the picture and I kept jumping out--that's why my grandmother is laughing.

And here's one with my Nana when I was just a little baby.That's my cousin Roy on the left, me, and my cousin Jennifer.  Look at me....wow.....that looks JUST LIKE my Palmer.  Tate genes might be strong but I'm seeing what I'm seeing here.

My Grandmother was very firm but nurturing.  She didn't put up with misbehavior and she was kind of serious.  She was an absolute master at finding things to keep us busy and she let us sit and go through her jewelry boxes and scarves for hours, trying all of it on and making a total mess.  I remember making those octagonal loom yarn trivets over and over with her.  She was a good, solid, plain cook who always let me help her bake.  Her spaghetti and meatballs in the big yellow Correlle bowl was the best to come out of a non-Italian kitchen in South Jersey.  Every summer I try to make time to cook her boiled peach dumplings.  They taste like love and summer in a bowl.

Grandparents are awesome.  Mine certainly were!