To Grandma’s House I Go

I’ve been thinking about my grandmother a lot lately, especially as I toss around ideas for the essay I will write for this year’s Listen To Your Mother show in Chicago. Memories of her come and go, and sometimes she hangs around in my brain for an extended period of time. I don’t mind at all; in fact, I rather enjoy it. My Grandma was a huge presence in my young life. We visited her house all the time, and she spoiled her grandkids like crazy. She was one of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever met in my life. I’m often in awe of the fact that she died when I was only ten years old but has continued to affect my life in so many ways.

Since she’s been on my mind, it didn’t surprise me at all that, when I was looking for a picture of my boys earlier today, I came across this, a picture I haven’t seen in ages.

This picture is worth way more than a thousand words.
This picture is worth way more than a thousand words.

I noticed so many things at first glance. The glasses, for one thing. How awesome are those?

I see my mom in my Grandma’s face so much more than I ever have before. I see my younger son, J, in my face.

My side curls. WHAT???

The picture was taken in October of 1973, when I was nearly five, and it’s a perfect representation of the love that was between us. I still miss her after all these years, and when I catch myself wondering what she would think about the person I am today, I laugh because I already know.

6 Comments

  • Sylvia Joy

    This had me in tears — I think of her a lot but more this time of year because I thank her for giving birth to me. She was one of the GOOD PEOPLE that should have not died young.
    I am so glad you remember her so well. I thank God for all the good she instilled in all of us both, her and my Dad were great people.
    Love Grandma W

  • Mags

    It is really amazing, isn’t it, how certain people just touch our lives even when being with us for such a short period of time? And yes, her glasses are awesome. In fact, before I read the post I kept looking at them thinking, “Man, I wish I could pull those off!”

  • Liz

    What a fantastic picture, I love your Grandmother’s face…too…and you already know how I feel about your face. And…OMG!!!…it’s like looking into J.’s face, with blonde curls. Heh.

  • Heidi Sloss

    You both look so happy together, really present. I miss my Grammy a lot. There are so many thing I would love to discuss with her. One of the downsides of having kids layer in life is that some miss out on grandparents altogether.

  • daniel

    The 70s were weird. Side curls enjoyed their last decade. Bell-bottom jeans and feathered hair.

    I didn’t have a father growing up so my grandfather took on a large part of that role. I would spend a few weeks in the summer with my grandparents. We went to flea markets a lot. We would get the camper and get up at an ungodly hour to get in line. We got up early to get a “good spot” in the fle market. We always left with more things than we took it seemed. I learned to haggle from him.

    Dang. I think I need to make a blog post about this.