One of the sweetest people I have ever known was my grandmother. This is my mom's mom, and she passed away 22 years ago, but to this day she is still widely remembered in the town where she and my grandfather lived all their lives. Lily was a wonderful homemaker. She was the best cook, a talented flower gardener, and a creative crafter. Some of my favorite memories of spending time with her involved cooking. Oh, the food! She could do anything in the kitchen from baking a perfectly formed loaf of bread, seemingly effortlessly, to crafting the most delicate, dainty divinities and cookies almost too pretty to eat. All of my aunts would ask her for recipes, and those were passed on to the grandchildren over the years, and now to the great grandchildren. At one time we even created a 'family cookbook,' and most of those recipes came from my grandmother. Other fond memories involving my grandmother were when she would tell me and my sister bedtime stories. She used to make up these little fairy stories, if you will, about a family of squirrels who supposedly lived in a hollow stump at the edge of their back lawn, along the treeline. These stories delighted us and filled our heads with endless daydreams and ideas for games of our own. My sister and I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents' house when both my parents were working. We enjoyed the time there, making our own fun or being entertained by Grandma Lily. I will always look back on those years as precious, and would give anything to go back in time and relive just one day again. I still miss her very much.
I have very fond memories of my grandmother also. She died in 1997. Growing up I didn't see her that often, we lived in Pittsburgh and she lived in Chicago but when I left College I moved to Chicago and to my grandmother's for a short time before I got married. I did spend most summers at her home when I was young. She was also the best cook ever and she would bake almost every day. She didn't even need a recipe, she knew them from memory. She was also the most generous, kindest, selfless woman I've known. I loved my dear mother also but grandma Had a slight edge. Thanks for reminding me of her. Seems we both had very special grandmothers.
@Chrissy Page Grandmothers always seem to one-up mothers in that way. I am not sure why. Mine too was extremely kind, gracious, and selfless. She would never let someone lift a finger when she was hostess. If someone would start to do something, or even offer to do something for her, she would say, "Don't worry, I'll do that." She was always doing things for other people. Of course I just saw hanging out at Grandma's as fun time, but of course I know now that when me and my sister were little this was a great help to my mother who couldn't have worked if it weren't for my grandparents' helping out. My parents went through some hard times financially, and to their credit, and my grandparents', we were fairly ignorant of this as kids.
Sounds like a great family you had. Tough times, yet you didn't feel it. When I look back at my grandmother at the age I am now, she already looked older in my eyes. Wore grandmother clothes, old lady shoes, old lady hairstyle. She really didn't care how she looked just as long as she was clean and proper. She always wore dresses and an apron when she cooked or baked. In her later years after my grandfather died, she lived in a very small area above my uncle's house. It was separate Kitchen, etc. My sisters and I still marvel at the meals she could make in that teeny tiny kitchen even in her 80's. She was diabetic and had circulation problems and her feet and legs were her main problem. Yet she would pull up a chair next to her stove if she couldn't stand anymore and cook like that. Such an inspiration as a role model and yet I don't think she even finished high school.
That's very sweet of your grandmother, even inventing stories just for you and your sister. How I wish we could go back in time to savor those moments. I have never ever experienced affection from my grandmother. I only have one, my maternal grandmother because my father's parents were already deceased when I was born. Right now, I am imagining that scenario where you are in the bedroom or probably on the bed to listen to that fairy tale which you could never find in the books. You sure are lucky to have an affectionate grandmother.
Corie, I never really knew my father's parents either. I met my fraternal grandmother a few times, but my dad's father died when I was very young and I don't remember him at all. As far as his mom, for whatever reason, we did not find her very affectionate or friendly. I wonder if it is a common theme for fraternal grandparents to not be as nurturing, or at least giving that impression to the grandchildren? I have heard it from other people too, but maybe it is just a coincidence. The world is full of nurturing people and not-so-nurturing people, so inevitably some of each type will end up as grandparents. You got me thinking about those stories, though, and how they are not in books. Maybe I should be writing them down while I can still remember most of them so that my nieces and nephews will be able to read them some day. Stories like that are lost when no one passes them on. It makes me sad to wonder how many stories have been lost to time in that way.
I didn't know my father's parents either. His dad died the year I was born and his mom lived in Hungary. We visited her once and she must have been about 97.
I have to say I loved my grandfathers more than my grandmothers because they were both extremely sweet, loyal, hardworking with it guys with great senses of humor. I think they broke the mold with those two. I can honestly say, I have never known better men. If I could find someone half as great as those two I would be happy. My dad is pretty good too...just not quite as humorous. I was fortunate enough to have both my grandads around for most of my life.