I saw this photo on Facebook the other day and that woman reminded me so much of my grandmother that I immediately decided I would use it for a Three On Thursday post. Here are three things I remember about my grandmother’s house:
- Going swimming. My grandparents lived a block from the beach and when I visited them in the summer we would walk to the beach after lunch (after we waited the required 30 minutes, of course, hahaha) to go swimming. I remember catching tadpoles in milk bottles. I remember listening to my grandmother chat with her friends while they watched us swim. I remember hanging out with my cousins from Maryland and Virginia when they would come for vacation every August.
- Sitting around her kitchen table on Sunday nights. My parents split up when I was 2 and my brother and I spent Sundays with our dad. My favorite Sundays were the ones where we visited my grandparents. We would go for Sunday dinner (always a roast of some sort) and then spend the afternoon playing games, going for a walk, visiting the next door neighbor’s farm animals and more. Before we left my grandmother would put out a light Sunday supper. It was often left overs from dinner or sandwich makings and it was always delicious and fun. I can remember feeling like all was right in the world when I sat in that cozy kitchen with my family.
- Sleeping on a cot in my grandparent’s bedroom. They had twin beds (I know, right?) and would set up a cot for me in their room when we stayed over. I loved being in there and seeing my grandmother’s things on the top of her bureau. I loved waking up in the morning and seeing my grandmother putting on her robe and slippers as she headed to the kitchen to make coffee. I remember they had a cat that liked to sleep at the foot of my bed but she would pounce on me if I so much as moved a toe and her claws were sharp!
There are lots of other things I remember like blueberry picking (and my grandmother’s amazing blueberry cake), watching fireflies in the backyard, running for the ice cream truck, block parties and Labor Day parades, Christmas Eve smorgasbords, learning to braid cardamom bread, and more. But the thing I remember most is that I always felt loved there. I always felt safe there. And it was one of my favorite places to be.
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There’s nothing like a tender relationship with grandparents. Sweet summer memories. I’ll bet that same kind of love fills up your own grandson!
What wonderful memories of your grandmothers! I hope I am creating good memories like those for my grandchildren.
That dress, that apron! I remember my grandmother had a plaid dress like that, and she always wore an apron. (A habit I keep trying to get into, but I usually only think of it after I have gotten some stain on my clothes – LOL.) All of my grandparents lived out in the country, so my memories are quite different, but you have captured the essence of how I felt – safe and loved.
Lovely post today. I was lucky to have four grandparents, two close by and two we visited in the summer. Your front porch photo with aproned grandmother is perfect. I sometimes dream of my grandparents awaiting me on their porch, and the welcome is always 100% acceptance and love.
What lovely memories — thank you for sharing them! I have some very distinct memories from when I was probably in kindergarten of my grandmother picking me up at school and walking me back to my grandparents’ apartment to stay until my parents could pick me up after work. What’s really cool now is that both that school and their apartment building (though my grandparents have since passed away) are in my neighborhood, and I pass them every day on my way to work.
I’m lucky enough to have similar memories from the two weeks we spent with my grandparents every summer. My grandmother’s kitchen, her apron, her corn fritters, blueberry picking, playing with my cousins in the attic, and the music from the ice cream truck. I always felt loved and welcomed there and return to those memories when I want to remember that feeling. I bet that Jackie will have those same kind of memories from you and your house.
This brought me great joy this morning! I am lucky enough to have wonderful grandparent memories as well. Thanks for the memories Carole!
I love this Carole and it made me think of my grandparents and visiting them in Vermont. I can still smell the odors of their home (fresh baked pies, etc.).
What nice memories of your grandmother! I was blessed to have had close relationships with both sets grandparents and just loved being with them.
What a lovely, lovely post, Carole! I too have fond memories of staying at my grandparents’ house when my parents went on vacation or even just out for an evening. Playing dominoes or Chinese checkers with my grandmother, begging my grandfather to “tell me stories of when he was a little boy”, the homey smell of their house that always made me feel loved and welcomed.
My grandparents had separate bedrooms because they snored so loudly!
Ah! Those are lovely and delicious sounding memories. My fave memory of being at my grandmother’s was her lemon meringue pie…she could whip one up as tho’ she were making toast. Sadly, she lived in Oregon and we, Michigan … our chances to have some of that pie were sorely limited.
Great memories! When I was young my grandmother lived in a two story house on Heine (we pronounced it Hiney) Ave and would laugh. When I was a teenager she moved to an elderly apartment complex and we would go for dinner every Friday night. I remember she used to make chicken thighs in mushroom soup and I really disliked chicken thighs. She passed away when I was 16 and she was my last living grandparent. She used to crochet and I have a throw she made put away.
Ah, what a beautiful post, Carole – thank you for sharing. I love, too, that so many of us have similar memories of being cared for and loved unconditionally. What a blessing! We never lived close to family growing up, so visits with grandparents were “trips” and “vacations” and when I was old enough, meant spending two weeks – without my family! – and it was so good to have that time with them all to myself.
What a lovely post. I too was fortunate to know all 4 of my grandparents with fondness. So many stories and so many memories long past that still make me smile.
There are good things in our lives that always stay with us. <3
I was just thinking about this the other day. Now that I’m back in my home town the house my dad grew up in [my great grandmother owned it] is still standing although I have never been inside, but I have fond memories of visits at the house the built before I was born. I LOVED living just a couple miles from them until I had to go live with my dad when I was 10. I really wish I would have been able to stay nearby. My great grandmother was an avid gardener and had ginormous hydrangeas that were a beautiful blue. My grandfather always had a vegetable garden and loved his birds. Lots of fond memories hanging out in the carport with the cousins eating, playing and homemade ice cream. Sigh-those were the good old days!
This is an inspired post, Carole. Many of us have lovely memories of our grandmother’s home and spending time with the lovely women in our lives. We spent many Sunday’s with our grandmother(s) and I have many, many memories from time spent there. Thank you for bringing those memories to the fore.