Memories

One of my favorite pictures in the whole world!
Bradley with his Great Grandma Margaret, 11/12/07


Grandpa's house, 11/12/07

Grandpa's barn, 11/12/07

I housesat for my aunt in Ashland this week. Childhood memories danced through my head as I sat in her sunroom overlooking my grandpa's land with my son who carries my grandpa's name…

• Fishing in Grandpa’s pond with a wooden fishing rod. I was never any good and always managed to get the rod stuck in the weeds.
• Granny cleaning out a storage closet upstairs so she could make a playroom for us.
• Dawn and I sitting at the little white table and chairs in the playroom and writing little messages for Granny on the chalkboard before we left to go home—especially showing off that we could write in cursive. :-)
• Meeting Granny at the movies in Ashland where she gave us each a pair of angel clip-on earrings. Mine are red, and Dawn’s are blue.
• Seeing Grandpa sitting in his chair by the fire and giggling as we asked if he had any mints. We always got him a book of Lifesavers for Christmas.
• Big family reunions when we would all sit out on Grandpa’s front porch and take a picture together.
• Listening to Grandpa sing in the congregation at Trinity church.
• Granny playing the organ at church.
• Mom always shaking her head because Granny slammed the car door so hard to make sure it was shut.
• Granny in the big white car.
• Sheba trying to bite everyone’s tires who came in the driveway.
• All the hugs we shared!
• Sleeping in Granny’s bed with her when we spent the night. She told us scary stories, like the one that went “Who has my toe?!” I don’t remember exactly how the story went, but it scared the dickens out of me. I hated it but loved it at the same time. :-)
• Grandpa praying at big family dinners.
• Granny fixing liver and onions and spinach. Yuck-o!
  
• Granny having a whole bunch of white puppies in a pen in the side yard. Oh, those puppies had sharp little nails!
• Granny and Grandpa reading in their chairs in the living room at night. One time, Jennifer cut up a rubber band and tried to sneak and put it in Granny’s hair when she was reading.
• Visiting Granny in her bedroom at home when she was sick.
• One day, Granny got out of bed when she was sick and sat at the kitchen table. Mom told me it was my job to give Granny some iced tea if she wanted it. I must have asked her 100 times if she wanted any tea. She kept saying no, but I think she finally said yes so I would stop asking her. She never drank it. However, I was so excited that Granny was actually out of bed, that I threw open the back door and yelled down to the pond where Jennifer and Dawn were fishing. I said, “Granny’s out of bed!” Jennifer said, “What do you want me to do about it?” I felt so deflated, but I just had to share it with everyone that Granny was up and about.
• One day, Dad was driving us home in the white Ford truck. He abruptly stopped at the side of the road and told us that Granny had died. We cried on him for a good while. I remember being in shock because I knew Granny was sick but didn’t realize she was going to die. We went home and Mom was sitting on the couch crying. Our neighbor Millie was there. Dawn and I sat with Jennifer at the funeral. We were sobbing the whole time. Jennifer kept trying to make us laugh. An old lady turned around and handed me a tissue. Then the family went up to look at the casket one last time. Grandpa stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders. I looked up at him and smiled. He sucked on his teeth and rocked back and forth on his heels and tried to smile back at me.
• Seeing Grandpa sitting at the kitchen table after Granny had died. He was so skinny and didn’t want to eat.
• Grandpa marrying Margaret. Margaret wore a blue dress. They had a big, clear key as a keychain. I think it had their name on it. They took us to Mammoth Caves and Camden Park. Margaret always got us a present when we had a big family dinner.
• Grandpa griping at us when the window shades fell down in the upstairs room when we spent the night. Margaret told him to not be so hard on us. :-)
• Eating Margaret’s hashbrown casserole at family dinners.
• Reading all of Margaret’s Janette Oke books. :-)
• Margaret taking me to the Huntington Mall and buying me an outfit (a floral turtleneck w/ green pants).
• Margaret always having a great respect for our relationship with Granny and wanting to have her own special relationship with us.
• The first time I knew Grandpa didn’t recognize me when he had Alzheimer’s. We were at a dinner in Aunt Connie’s basement. He pointed at me and told Margaret he wanted “what that girl was having.” One time I hugged him in his chair at his house and said, “Hi, Grandpa.” He said, “Hi, Grandma,” because he didn’t remember that he was my grandpa.
• Watching Margaret work really hard to take care of him when he was sick and saying she just had to laugh when he put on her clothes or else she would cry.
• Sitting around Grandpa’s bed in the nursing home when he died a few days before my wedding. It was such a peaceful time there with Mom, Dad, Aunt Connie, Uncle Walter, Uncle John, Uncle Bill, Sarah June, and Margaret. I had prayed for a year that Grandpa could be at my wedding. Margaret told me that he would be watching it with Granny in heaven.
• Seeing how tired Margaret was at my wedding but determined to be a part of our special day.
• Singing at Grandpa’s funeral while Dawn played the piano and getting to meet people who had been friends with Granny.
  
  

There is a big sign in Grandpa’s yard now that says “For Sale.” I am so sad when I think about the possibility of someone outside the family buying his land and his house—and perhaps tearing it down to build a Wendy’s or a gas station or some such thing. I always hoped I could buy it myself and cook in Granny’s kitchen just like she did so many times and have Xon plant his first church at Trinity—the church Grandpa helped to start so many years ago.

Unfortunately, the land is worth a lot more monetarily than I will ever be able to afford. To me, its value comes from the lives that were lived there. So when I worry too much about seeing “SOLD” written in big red letters across that sign, I try to remind myself that I don’t need Granny and Grandpa’s things to remember what a special part of my life they were. I can just try to pass their legacy on to my own children, hope Bradley has many more years with his grandparents than I did, and feel blessed by the fact that one day I will get to see them again in heaven. Oh, what a day that will be!


LEGACY
By Elizabeth Dawn Lippman
Copyright © 2001 Elizabeth Lippman

Old, worn and wrinkled, but strong
her hand held mine
Young, soft and smooth, I listened
She spoke, her fingers caressing mine
And I knew
One before her had held her hand
just the same
Through the years imparting
what would help make me who I am
and have yet to become
Through many ages, many lives
Their hands hold mine