My GRANDma

Dress up. V-8 juice. Lemon Pepper. Dark Chocolate. Crab apple trees. Easter Egg hunts. Bonfires. Little apple-shaped bottles of Martinelli's juice. Orange tabby cats. American Rabbit. Touched by an Angel. Early Edition. Doc. Making valentines out of heart-shaped paper doilies to send to cousins who were serving in the mission field. Ginger snaps and milk. Sleepovers. Sunday dinner. Cabbage. Lima beans and ham. The birthday drawer. Plums. Climbing the willow tree that used to be in the front yard. Family vacations in the RV. Ice cream in Yellowstone. Daisy the 4-wheeler. Little Black Sambo. The pig cookie jar that oinks when you open it. Picnics in Oak City canyon. Duffy and Pursy the cats. Walking sticks with bells. Picking leaves in the fall when they change colors. The candy dish that is usually kept on the dryer but moves to the fireplace mantle during holidays. Charcoal pencils. Typewriters. The yearly flooding of the basement when the irrigation comes. Homemade ice cream with saltine crackers. My first dance at Van's Dance Hall. Sitting in the hot tub. The Taj Mahal. Orange sticks at Christmas time. Bottled grape juice. Dancing to the Rice Krispies record. The little closet in the "play room" where she keeps the easter baskets.

I'd like to deviate a bit and dedicate this entry to my amazing Grandma. Many of the simple joys in my life are a result of the many times I've spent at Grandma's house. As I was avoiding homework one evening, I realized the impact she has had on my life. The list at the beginning of this entry contains just a few of the many things that remind me of her. Some of them have stories to go along with them, while most of them would be recognized immediately by any who know her. I'd like to share a few of those stories with you.

Every summer my family and I (along with Grandma, of course!) would pack up the RV and take a vacation. She kept a walking stick behind the fold down couch (which was indisputably her bed). The walking stick had a bell on it. If I remember correctly, it was from Yellowstone. One year when we went to Yellowstone, some of my siblings and I had seen more than we wanted of rocks. That's all Yellowstone is! So at one stop, we refused to leave the RV and go on yet another boring hike to see... yup, rocks. When those who did go on the hike came back, they were eating ice cream, mom and dad's "punishment" to us for not going. Grandma gave me the rest of her half-eaten ice cream cone and told me it was because I take such good care of her.

My first (and only) dance at Van's Dance hall was a lot of fun. Daddy and I "danced" the polka. When I say "danced," really I mean he picked me up and spun me around while HE did the polka. It was also the first time I had ever danced with a boy. Tiffany made me dance with her friends. Next to the memory of my dance with Daddy, though, is dancing with Grandma. We danced around the room as she told me random things about the dance hall and how it used to look before they remodeled some of it, and how she used to like dancing.

Grandma always had cookies in her cookie jar. I think she got the oinking pig so she could know when we were sneaking a cookie. As we all got older, we discovered how to lift the lid carefully and quickly so we could hold down the button to keep it from making noise.

Watching TV with Grandma is always fun. I'll always remember the day when she told me that she had a "crush" on Billy Ray Cyrus in Doc. I laughed as she told me she thought he was very good looking.

I blame the fact that I LOVE dark chocolate on my Grandma. She is, after all, the one who introduced me to it and shared her stash with me.

To my Grandma:

You gave me a mother

and raised her up right

some aunts and an uncle

all taught with the light

You gave me a friend

in whom to confide

to share in my pain

when I'm broken inside.

A person to share

in my happiness too

who let me run rampant

in a house like a zoo.

Without you I'd miss

many memories dear

and fun things we've done

when'er you were here.

The great camping trips,

the paths that we walked,

bonfires shared,

and times we just talked.

Pictures were taken

and glued in your book

to always remind us

to just stop and look.

There in the hot tub

on a cold winter eve

we'd sit and we'd soak,

no desire to leave.

At the end of the day,

when all's said and done,

I'll always remember

you were equaled by none.

Truly she is a GRANDma.