We went to visit my Great Grandma Jones every Sunday. She always had a wonderful lunch, including dessert. My favorite was pumpkin pie, no matter what time of the year. Grandma told us how she would get up at 4am to make her pies. Delicious!
I also remember the glass candy dish with the glass top. It was impossible to open and close it silently. Each week I chose two pieces of Brach's candy out of that dish. Maple was my favorite. I'm not sure if I've had any Brach's candy in 25 years. Now the candy dish sits in my dining room, shut away in the sideboard so it won't be broken. Too precious for my children, but when I'm a grandma I'll get it out to spoil the grandkiddies with.
There were coloring books and crayons under the TV which sat on a cart in the dining room. (Grandma spent most time in the dining room, kitchen, and bedroom--the rest of the house was mostly unused.) She never got new books or crayons, but the old ones were never used up. The crayons were those fat ones that you couldn't color small spaces with. I hated them. The coloring books had pictures of adventure stories like Gulliver's Travels. I loved them.
The elementary school, with it's playground, was on the next block. I spent several hours swinging and climbing on the equipment by myself. And for some reason I spent a lot of time just jumping down the steps of Grandma's back walkway. In the summer I would climb the magnolia tree next to the sidewalk. With a book, I could sit up there all afternoon reading.
Mostly I remember Grandma Jones sitting in her rocking chair in the dining room, with an afghan across her lap. She was constantly crocheting. She usually had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and it wasn't uncommon to hear a "goddamn it" escape her lips. She was definitely a character. Aren't we blessed, those of us who were able to know her even for a little while?
2 comments:
Thanks for a walk down memory lane. I still have out the blanket that she crocheted for me. I remember hating the bathroom at her house. It was small and only had that accordian curtain for the door. I even remember the brand of cigarette: More. They were long, skinny and brown and there was usually an ash hanging off the end longer than the part left to smoke. When I see the comic with the lady...what is her name Madge(?) I think of Grandma. What fun!
I knew someone would mention that bathroom! And the cartoon is Maxine--I always tell Hubby that it must be based on Grandma.
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