The Grand in Grandparents
Grand - some definitions to follow:
- Of large size or extent; great; extensive; hence, relatively great; greatest; chief; principal; as, a grand mountain; a grand army; a grand mistake.
- Great in size, and fine or imposing in appearance or impression; illustrious, dignifled, or noble (said of persons); majestic, splendid, magnificent, or sublime (said of things); as, a grand monarch; a grand general; a grand view; a grand conception.
- Standing in the second or some more remote degree of parentage or descent; -- generalIy used in composition; as, grandfather, grandson, grandchild, etc.
I only give you those as a point of reference as I begin my blogging this morning. I was recently giving thought to the wonderful role of grandparents! We've all had them and some of us still have one, two, three or all of them still with us. What memories do you have of them? Do they involve discipline and things you didn't like? Probably not - let's reserve that for the "memories of my parents" blog that may or may not make it to print! :) No, let's reserve this blog entry for thoughts on our our grandparents. I was thinking about this as I was riding along the Forest Park Train in Ft. Worth (near the zoo for those who know it). My in-laws were in town and they wanted to take the boys on a train ride since that's what Tyler and Colby said they wanted to do. [Makes me wonder what our plans would have been if Tyler had said he wanted to play a round of poker!! :) ] As I was riding along in the train car by myself, I pondered what a great life it must be to be a grandparent. And the love that my boys have for their Nonny, PawPaw, Nana and Papa is unbelievable!! Memories of this train ride will hopefully sink into my boys' memory banks. I'm also thinking of times Papa has taken the boys around in the truck at the farm to look at the horses and donkeys. Then there are special times with Nonny and Nana that involve playing, movies or reading books. Then I think of the wrestling times and baseball games with PawPaw. My boys have it real good when it comes to the grandparent department!
Got me to thinking about memories of my own grandparents. Here are a few that I'll share:
- Playing SkipBo with Granny - all the time!!
- Grandad's favorite chair and him asking at Christmastime "is it my turn yet to open a present" - that always made me giggle b/c I knew he knew it wasn't but it was fun asking.
- Playing Yahtzee with Pop. Will always remember the time when Randy (my brother) was trying watch something on TV while we were playing and Pop getting onto him saying "Are we going to watch TV or play?" Pop was rather serious about his Yahtzee !!
- The squirrels and chihuahuas (dogs) at Nana and Pop's house.
- Granny's famous chocolate cake with caramel icing - gosh wish I had me a piece right now!
- Learning to drive using Grandad's Ford truck sometimes! I think that was his - the red and white one.
- Nana's famous pecan pie and Divinity at Christmas!
- Nana and Pops' infamous living room Christmas tree!! It seemed to get smaller and smaller each year. Truth is it was never very big but seemed alot bigger when I was younger.
- Pop's remote control that never ever moved from his armchair!! - I find myself punching the buttons on my remote just like Pop did at times - makes me laugh.
- Granny's famous chicken fried steak and Thanksgiving lunches!! Oh man, if I could just find someone who could make dressing like she could - the best ever!!
- Nana and Pop's money envelopes at Christmas - always recycle them though.
- Sleepovers and nights we spent at the farm with Granny and Grandad so Mom and Dad could go to Lubbock for a well deserved night out!! (I still can remember having Dad carry me to the car)
- Did Grandad own more than 3 outfits? I think he always looked the same to me.
- Nana's place on that TV room couch - seemed like that couch was built just for her.
- Great times with all four of my grandparents - they are just too many!!
Side note: I regret that I didn't get to have as much time in life to spend with Grandad. He died when I was young (5th grade from what I remember but they may be wrong). It happened on Christmas Eve I think when we were in Ft. Worth. I'll always remember that sad ride home. I love the fact that my boys still get to hug their GREAT-Grandmother, Granny but regret that they never got to spend time at Nana and Pop's house. They would have loved the squirrels.
Got any great memories of your grandparents? I'd love to hear about 'em.
God bless you all,
SJ
8 Comments:
I remember mudpies at Muzzy's; Poppy napping with mouth wide open in his chair; the "squishiness" of snuggling with Grandma, Mamaw, and Muzzy; sitting with Papaw as he shared lots of life memories with me, knowing it would probably be the last time we would see each other this side of heaven; special weeks in the summer's at all the grandparents' houses - lots of yummy food, shopping, no chores, just being spoiled rotten!! Grandparents are the greatest. thanks for provoking good memories, Donny. - Kendra
I never knew either grandfather but I loved my grandmothers for sure. My favorite memory from "grandmother", which was Daddy's mother, was she ALWAYS put a one dollar bill in my birthday card. My mother's mother was "Mam-Ma" and she made the grandkids a cream pie that we all loved. She made a homemade crust and only put whipped cream in it. It was good. Grandmother walked to church...didn't have a car. She had to go early and get communion trays ready. That was her job in Graford, Tx. She did it until her death. Mam-ma had all the family (her 7 kids, their spouses, and her grandkids) at her house for Christmas. We drew names and it was always loud and fun with all those cousins. She didn't have a car either and she and grandmother were good friends there in Graford. Mom
DV,
Well, you picked some of my favorites! I loved Yahtzee with Nana and Pop. Such a fun home to be in (in spite of the cock fight paintings...creepy...sorry Mom). Who can forget Nana's "Happy Cake" (I still have the recipe and make it during the holidays). We're such twins...I thought, too, about Granny's stuffing and that same chocolate cake with caramel icing! Of course we all adore Granny's little "notch" in that lower lip where her after-dinner toothpicks have rested for the past 5 decades. Hysterical. I always loved Christmas Eve drives home from Granny and Grandad's farm. The sky was always clear and I loved looking out for Santa. Speaking of C.Eve, who can explain the former Vaughn tradition of Chow Mein for Christmas Eve?!! Kelly still chuckles at that...of course I remember, once we could drive our own truck, running off to Subway on the way there. Chow Mein?
-Randy
I remember that I was about 3 and I was at nana and pop's house sitting in pop's chair and he was letting me play with his eye glass and I also remmember playing with these ducks on a string it was so much fun.
I will never forget how much fun I had with nana and pop!
I remmeber going to the castas theater with nana and papa and granny.
I t was the reunion and I got everyone autographs.
I lOVE going to the catas and I will always have goood memmerias
We remmember going to the science spackter with nana and tori it was so much fun and I thank that Garyn and tori had fun with the bubbles
That cake had cinammon in the recipe and the carmel icing probably has shortened my life span already. But it sure sounds good now. Even with the toothpick, Granny wouldn't be Granny without the baseball cap. I don't think Grandad had more than 3 shirts. Toni's grandfather Peacock had one or so it seemed. I remember Pop always playing with that wooden dancing puppet as if we had never seen it before. It was a trademark of his that I remember. Nana had the cookie jar that always had the generic and dare I say "stale" cookies. They always tasted good after the ham sandwich. if we did eat out at Nana and Pop's it was either Dairy Queen or KFC on White Settlement Road. It was always good to top off dinner with a piece of the chocolate pie from that bakery on Bowie(?) avenue.
I remember when Grandad died, it was the only time I have ever seen my dad really cry. It was Christmas eve and I can remember selfishly thinking he wouldn't be at my graduation 5 months later. We were also scheduled to bring home some white cats that year, but Mom felt we shouldn't. I think it was also the year Bing Crosby died. (random thought I know)
I still miss my Pop and I am way too sentimental about that silly car. But I wouldn't have it any other way.-Gary
strangely enough i just recently wrote a post of my own about my grandmother... check it out here:
http://jennafey.blogspot.com/2005/08/ann-jane-vanrompaey.html
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