Grandmommy is flying home today!
My kids are going to miss her. They are cookie monsters and she is one cookie-baking grandma. I don’t think she should leave. I think she should stay forever. But I am grateful my children are able to have so many wonderful memories of loving grandparents.
What’s your favorite memory of your grandparents? Mine is when my grandmother sewed me a cloth doll like she had when she was a girl.
Or maybe it was the time we were at her house and she left all the food out for days before we got there (she was very old then) and we all got sick and when I went to the medicine cabinet to get some Pepto-Bismol pills, I took the pink pills out of the box and swallowed them down in desperation and ONLY THEN studied the little foil packets I’d taken out of the Pepto-Bismol box.
The pills were Ex-Lax.
Yeah, THAT HELPED. But when I think of it, I laugh and I think of my grandmother, and that can’t be all bad, right?
MartyK says:
I don’t remember my dad’s mother, but my mom’s mom used to make these “Jake and Judy” rag dolls for my brother and I. We’d get a new and improved version every year. She’s gone now, and unfortunately, we’ve also lost the Jake and Judy pattern 🙁
On September 20, 2005 at 8:12 am
Leanna says:
I remember my grandmother’s smile. Her laugh. I miss her. She’s been gone over 20 years now. Boy would she have loved to cook for my children. She loved to cook. And she was a great cook. Mmmm. I can almost taste those spare ribs she used to make.
On September 20, 2005 at 8:19 am
Peggy says:
The first thing I thought when I saw that picture was, “wow, I’d give her a big hug too if she made me all those cookies!”. Love, LOVE homemade cookies fresh out of the oven.
On September 20, 2005 at 8:49 am
Cherlyn says:
Um…looking at that picture, I miss grandma too! LOL
I remember when I was young and my grandmother lived with us for a while. I missed her cooking. Home cooked meals, everything from scratch. See, my mother wasn’t the cook my grandmother was, although we were fed well. But we missed grandma when she moved. 😥
On September 20, 2005 at 8:50 am
Mary says:
My grandmother was the love of my life. I used to stay with her on weekends. What a wonderful woman. I miss her a lot.
On September 20, 2005 at 9:23 am
Mechele Armstrong says:
Love the pict with all those cookies. How neat. And it is wonderful they will have such memories of her.
My memories of my grandmother could fill up pages, volumes even. My favorite ones involve her smile and her hugs.
And LOL poor Suzanne on the exlax. 😯
On September 20, 2005 at 9:26 am
Estella says:
I used to spend the summers with my grandmother(late 40’s and 50’s). No tv, so I could play outside and read to my hearts content.:yes:
On September 20, 2005 at 9:35 am
Eve says:
I don’t remember either one of my grandfather’s – maternal died when I was 4 and paternal when I was 9. My paternal grandmother always wore an apron with a large pocket across the front. She’d keep lemondrops in there. Linty lemondrops. Uh, no grandma, think I’ll pass. My cousins and I discovered where she kept them and would by-pass her at the door to go get our own lint-free lemondrops. Chinese checkers and Lawrence Welk also. She taught me how to scrub a floor – she was always fun that way.
Maternal grandmother was known for her homemade noodles – yummy:thumbsup: But she made the stalest cookies you have ever tasted – fresh from the oven. We finally figured out it was the lard. She also would make Kool-ade out of jello – okay if you didn’t put in ice:shocked: She taught me how to embroider and she loved to read.
Dad did something similar to you – except he mistook it for chocolate (I don’t know which one it was – but it was chocolate flavor). Big problem was it was during the drive down to the lake for an all-night fishing trip. They had fun!:shock:
On September 20, 2005 at 10:00 am
Toni Anderson says:
I spent my holidays and after school time with my granny and grandad. We used to go for long walks blackberry picking.
Me and grandad have a very special relationship and I miss him terribly. I am very lucky to have him, even if he is so far away!!
On September 20, 2005 at 10:10 am
Melissa Marsh says:
Wow! What a wonderful bunch of cookies!
I just saw my grandmother this weekend – I have so many wonderful memories. She used to take the grandkids shopping every year – a special treat with just us and grandma – and buy us whatever we wanted. She used to really be into crafts and I’d always help her out with whatever she was working on, although I never did learn to crochet.
My grandparents were always there for us – supporting us at sporting events or plays or band concerts. We could always go to their house after school (they just lived a few blocks away from the school) and have a snack of Oreos and milk. She ALWAYS had Oreos.
On September 20, 2005 at 10:18 am
Mik says:
I don’t remember any of my grandparents. 🙁
Can your mommy come and bake for me?! WOW! hehe
On September 20, 2005 at 10:20 am
Mary Stella says:
I loved learning to make an Italian fig/date cookie from my one grandmother. I also loved telling her stories about my college adventures. She’d smack her hands to her cheeks and rock with laughter. My mother’s mother was more sedate, but Nana was sharp! She helped me study Geometry to raise my grade. (I’m awful with mathematics!)
On September 20, 2005 at 10:24 am
Robyn says:
One grandma hardly spoke any English so Dad and her would communicate in German from the answers we gave.
The other grandma has rheumatoid arthritis so bad and was crippled; she passed away when I was 14.
I never knew my one grandpa-was 2 when he passed away. The other grandpa loved Ginger Snaps and Buttermilk; I can still see him pacing back and forth from the kitchen to the living room eating a Ginger Snap and then stopping at the fridge for a drink of Buttermilk. Oh, and he loved Goat’s cheese.
On September 20, 2005 at 11:35 am
Kelly says:
I used to paint my grandmothers nails. They were long and thick, and a little yellow, but she smoked all the time.
On September 20, 2005 at 11:38 am
Alyssa says:
I’m coming to your house for a cookie. Will be there soon.
My favorite memory with my grandmother is of staying over at her house and making marshmallow men out of marshmallows and toothpicks.
On September 20, 2005 at 11:50 am
Emma S says:
That’s a lot of cookies!
Now that both of my grandparents are gone, I’m struck by their oppositness. My Nana was the most prim and proper woman you’d ever want to meet. She didn’t leave the house without her white gloves on.
My Papa on the other hand, was the biggest character you’d ever meet. When his underwear got too old, rather than buying new, he simply glued the old stuff together. That’s my favorite Papa story (oh, and the time he wore my Nana’s pants – after she’d died).
My Nana spent a lot of time rolling over in her grave.
On September 20, 2005 at 12:07 pm
ruby55 says:
As I mentioned yesterday, my maternal grandmother died when I was 5. Three or four years later, my Opa married again. She was 10 years older than my mother. I can remember going to their place and playing ping pong in their back yard with them. My grandfather, to whom Hitler was just “that criminal,” had very definite opinions; his wife was softer and much kinder and agreeable than my paternal grandmother. It hurt me to the quick when, knowing how much trouble that Oma had caused her, my mother said to me, “You’re just like Oma.” I guess my Oma, my father and I have always been people of few words :grin:(though you’d never know it from the blogs) and we were always serious. I can’t remember her ever hugging me or smiling at me and she certainly didn’t bake. She gave us big gifts though, because we were her only grandchildren. Two of her sons were MIA in WW II. Maybe that helped to change or she was always like this.
Tante Irma, my Opa’s second wife, was much more a grandma than my real grandma ever was. She died about eight years ago. And I still miss her even though she went back to Germany in the 60s. I visited her frequently esp. when I lived there myself.
On September 20, 2005 at 1:04 pm
Marcy says:
My paternal Grandmother started me on reading romances. After she read them she put them in boxes until she found someone to give them to. Since we’d go to her fruit farm every summer to help harvest cherries, peaches and apples, I found them. Funny thing was she’d always skip over the love scenes. 😆
She also lived for her soap operas, but when a particularly juicy kissing scene was on she said, “I just don’t see how they can kiss like that. It’s like they’re eating each other!”
My 16 y.o. response? “Well, have you ever tried it, Grandma? You might like it!”
Yes, she loved me. How could she not? :yes:
On September 20, 2005 at 1:17 pm
Maureen says:
My grandparents were very serious, strict people so it was a shock when I had my daughter how attached they became to her and how wonderful they thought she was. They had pictures of her all over their house.
On September 20, 2005 at 1:59 pm
Desperate Writer says:
Oooh, YUM! Those look good!
I have too many wonderful memories of my grandparents to list here. Maybe I’ll blog on my site about them here and there.
My grandmother is 94, and still going strong. We STILL make cookies together. She is famous for her sugar cookies, having baked thousands of dozens over the years. She gave them to everyone. When she had her 90th party, a lady she nursed with at the hospital made a card for her with a copy of the original recipe she’d shared years ago, along with a photo of Granny.
We shape these cookies into Santa Claus cookies at Christmas, decorating each one with raisin eyes and coconut beards, with just a hint of peppermint flavoring in the icing. At Valentine’s, we shape them into conversation hearts, and everyone gets one with their name on it. Halloween brings out the orange-tinted Jack-o’-Lanterns, again with raisins in the triangle-shaped eyes, green stems curling out, begging you to grab and munch.
Yummmm….:grin:
On September 20, 2005 at 2:04 pm
raine says:
Favorite memories of my Grandma…so many!!
Watching her outside, chopping & splitting wood, when she was well into her eighties is one. 😀
And perching in her kitchen, watching her bake in her wood stove (and yes, food tastes BETTER cooked in a wood stove). And trying to get the recipes. I say TRYING, because it went like this:
Me: Grandma, how much flour didja just put in there?
Grandma: Oh, maybe half a handfull or so.
Me: Wait, wait–how much baking powder was that??
Grandma: I guess it was about a pinch & an inch…
I really miss her. 🙁
On September 20, 2005 at 2:57 pm
Eve says:
My grandmother used those measurements too. She just didn’t understand that her hands were much larger than mine.
On September 20, 2005 at 3:03 pm
Jordan says:
Grandpa unloading two ponies into our corral and telling me to pick one.:grin: God, I loved that man and miss him dearly.
On September 20, 2005 at 3:52 pm
mary beth says:
How sweet Suzanne!
I love my granparents. I’m so glad I knew them all.
On September 20, 2005 at 5:17 pm
Danica says:
I’m still drooling over those cookies.
I think my memories of my grandparents all revolve around food and books. Not a bad combination, if you ask me. 🙂
On September 20, 2005 at 6:29 pm
Melissa Mc says:
My grandmother never learned to speak English. She only spoke Spanish. She was short, not even five feet tall. We’d spend weeks with her during the summer. If we acted up, she’d come after us with a switch she’d pulled from a tree in her backyard. We went to Mass each morning. She did the priest’s laundry. Every room in the house had pictures of Jesus and Mary in them so if the switch didn’t deter us from behaving, those pictures did. I really miss her.
On September 20, 2005 at 7:27 pm
Gina says:
I really didn’t have the opportunity to have a close relationship with my own grandparents. The only one living when I entered the picture didn’t speak English, so we didn’t communicate much. She passed on in the last year or two at the age of 101.
On September 20, 2005 at 8:01 pm
Cynthia says:
Those cookies look excellent! Can you tell it’s way past dinner and I haven’t eaten? I’m positively drooling!
Care to send some my way? :thumbsup:
On September 20, 2005 at 9:49 pm
Sandy J says:
Because my mom and dad divorced when I was two and lived thousands of miles apart, I did not get to really ‘meet’ my father’s mother until they came down for my wedding. She asked me if she could spend the night in my room the night before the big day. I was not happy about it because I wanted to be alone to think and get ready. But I let her and we spent most of the night laughing, talking and getting to know each other. It was a wonderful time – one of the most precious memory I have as she is no longer alive. I am so glad I did that. To think of what I would have missed had I said no.
On September 21, 2005 at 8:29 am
Beth R says:
I have a lot of wonderful memmories of my mother’s mom. I remember her strength.
My grandfather passed away at a young age and my grandmother had to go to work. I admired her spirit. She also became a master gardner and whenever I see snapdragons I think of her.She lived 3 hours away so when I saw her we would just concentrate on each other. Every year for as long as I can remember I would spend a week with her. I still did that when I was an adult and my family would go. She is no longer alive but she lives on in the wonderful memmories that I have of her.
On September 21, 2005 at 11:33 am
Melissa says:
When I visited my grandmother in Richmond I slept on her chaise lounge. However, when I’d first arrive the chaise would be filled with candy and toys. She also used to take me to The Clover Room for ice cream.
I spent yesterday in the ER :hissyfit:
On September 21, 2005 at 1:24 pm
Margery Scott says:
My granny taught me to play cards – “double patience” which is really two-handed solitaire. We spent many hours at the table, chatting about nothing and everything. I miss that.
On September 21, 2005 at 6:04 pm
Robin P says:
I have a zillion great memories of my Nana. (She died 14 years ago.)
You want just ONE great one….? Ok,how about when I was about 5 years old and I was staying at Nana’s for the day.
She used to let me put dish soap on her table and kind of fingerpaint in it. I loved that.
Well she had baked a sponge cake and it had been cooling on the rack on the other side of the kithchen table for quite some time. I wanted to be a big girl and clean up my mess so I pulled off some cake and tried to soak up the soap. All I really understood was that it was a sponge.
She was stunned and quite speechless when she saw what I had done. I guess I am grateful she didn’t kill me!!
On September 24, 2005 at 2:37 pm