Sunday, November 17, 2013

GRANDMA’S HOUSE




“Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go.”  It wasn’t quite such a trip as that and we never made it in a horse and sleigh, but trips to “Grandma’s House” were a weekly, sometimes almost daily, occurrence while I was growing up.  I have written before about living in many houses as a child.  We moved, on average, once every two years until I was a teenager.  For this and other reasons, my Grandma Freytag’s house was the geographical center of my childhood.  I cannot remember not knowing that house; she was living there before I was born and until after I was grown.  Also Laurence, her second husband (more about him later) was there until he died when I was nine.
Many of my earliest memories are from that house.  Holidays and birthdays were celebrated there.  John and I would often stay there overnight when our folks went out for an evening.  Mother and Dad were married there.  “Dad” was actually my step-dad and they were married when I was four and half so I do remember the wedding.  I loved going there, because to my young eyes Grandma’s house had so much more of everything than did our own home, including, for a number of years, an indoor bathroom. 
    There were always cookies, kept in green glass jars and stored on top of a kitchen cabinet.  I can remember, when I was so young that I had to stand on tiptoe to see onto the table top, that jar was so high overhead it could have been on the moon.  My brother and I learned “Please” and “Thank you” asking for cookies.  It pleases me that those jars are still in the family, now in the possession of one of your cousins who remembers it from her grandma’s house.
     Also among the “more”  things in the house were all sorts of exotic objects and devices that Laurence (he insisted that we call him that, not Grandpa) had accumulated.  Grandma and Laurence liked to travel and brought back souvenirs of the places they had been,  among them Mexican and Cuban handicrafts and pictures from the Grand Canyon.  He was interested in just about everything  and loved making things.  Two of his more impressive creations were a loom (for weaving cloth) about the size of an upright piano, and a Newtonian telescope with an eight inch mirror.  The one that fascinated me the most as a child was a working model steam engine, complete with a high pitched whistle,  which  he would sometimes operate for us.
    Because I didn’t have a “dad” between the ages of two and 4 ½, Laurence was my first male role model.  I learned about using tools and hard work and loving from Dad, but it was Laurence who gave me the attitude of “Everything is interesting,” that I still enjoy today.

    Christmas was always spent at Grandma's house.  The presents waited for us under the tree, but first came the Christmas feast with all the traditional dishes.  Then came the longest hour of the year.  "The menfolk" including my brother and me would move to the living room where the tree was set up while the women cleaned up after the meal (this was the 1950s).  Opening presents did not begin until the dishes were done and everyone was gathered around the tree.  Only then would John and I begin handing out the gifts. 

   "Grandma's house" will always be a special place for me, the center of family, warmth, and security when I was a child and the source of my desire to be a part of creating such a place for my own children.  I only wish that being long distance grandparents didn't get in the way of our providing you with a "Grandma's house" of your own.

 Grandma’sBriefs.com

11 comments:

  1. I love that you are sharing so much of you as a grandchild with your own grandchildren, this is the perfect post. It tells them so much about you - the kind of things they will enjoy learning. Brought back lots of memories of being at my own grandparents house - especially the story of Christmas.

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    1. Thank you, Kc. Your continual support of my blogging efforts means a lot.

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  2. I'm so glad those cookie jars are still in the family!
    Your Christmas days at grandma's were very similar to my own. That clean up hour before gifts certainly was the longest of the year!

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    1. Thanks, J. Reviving those old memories is one of the joys of writing these essays.

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  3. What warm and wonderful family memories for you to enjoy and to share! I have a treasure trove of those as well and they are such a blessing. I hope and pray my grandkids are blessed with many sweet memories of all their loving grandparents (including moi :) ) when they are your age. I enjoy writing about them at SandwichINK.com, that's for sure :) Have a grand week.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words. I just paid my first visit to SandwichINK; I will be back.

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  4. What a great post...I was at my grandparents almost every day growing up...we are lucky, you and I :)

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  5. Hi Axiesday. I just read your comment from back in July on my Mamaw and Papaw Stories page. Don't get there often. I did enjoy your post today. We lived with our mom's parents for 9 years and it was not all good. Not like visiting. I know we got on their nerves.LOL

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  6. Just dropping by to wish you a fabulous new year! Blessings to you and yours in 2014!

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  7. Great Grandma's house was a special place for me too. She had the first electric toothbrush I ever saw! I must of brushed my teeth a half a dozen times a day when I was there. Everything about her house was great... by the time I came along, she had a three step stepstool that I would stand on to 'help' her bake cookies. What a wonderful lady she was.

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  8. "Everything is interesting"- Loved that!

    I wish I had grandparents too :(

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