A nice Sunday is a quiet one with drips of sunshine and bits of accomplishment.
The need for toilet paper took us to the Tarjay, oh the excitement of it all, in the valley only to discover it had been mightily rearranged. Ah well. He found a film he wanted, I found TP and Prilosec. I grazed on all the eye candy which is only a fraction of what we had to view last year. We ate lunch in a food court, mind you, and changed the oil and filters in a cheapie place that offered free wash. I came home to lengthen all our top sheets and he to polish the plastic headlight lenses on the Toyota.
Imagine a dramatic increase in headlamp power on the car and sheeting long enough to fold over your nose. Triumphs indeed.
40 Questions: Home
10. What made your aunt and uncle so special?
They were wonderful, nonjudgmental people. They lived rich verbal and social lives, and they went out into the world and did all sorts of interesting things. I only remember visiting them in their Wisconsin home once, but having a female cousin willing to take me out on the lake paddling was amazing. I thought they were marvelous people but way beyond my world. Their legacy to me is a male cuz who calls and makes me feel like I have family.
11. What was it like staying at your Grandma's?
The truth, never long enough. If she was feeling well, sometimes we would take the trolley to Balboa Park…the Zoo was free for kids in those days. She would wait outside. Only later did I figure out that her income was only 85.00 a month, and often she couldn’t afford to even feed me much less go into the zoo with me. Or we would walk up the alley to the high priced grocery store. My folks were always on her about shopping at other stores, but she didn’t have the breath to walk far. My favorite lunch was her Tuna Salad, a muffin, and a glass of milk. Once in a rare while, we ate at the restaurant in the park. The art gallery was free too. When I was very small, she helped me make homes and furniture from colored clays. G’s family made worlds from clay too….an interesting parallel. Always I would take a nap under the red and white summer quilt next to the pedal Singer sewing machine when I was very small. As a teen, all I wanted to do was leave home and I became very self centered. My grandma was almost forgotten. The ugly.
This is so true with us all, but I keep thinking/hoping my grandchildren will remember me as fondly as you remember yours even after they have abandoned me to their real life. You are a rich person because of that head start.
ReplyDeleteOh the excitement of it, indeed! :) I like doing stuff like that, too. You reminded me that I have to go buy ribbon...
ReplyDeleteBTW, I've been buying Prilosec at Costco -- three boxes for 21.00 and sometimes with a coupon, it's only 16.
I had an Aunt who taught me how to paddle a canoe. My favorite photo of her is her in her canoe paddling up the river with her pals. Thanks for jogging my memory.
ReplyDeleteI hope my grandkids have good memories of me too as they press on into teenagers. Fortunately my Dad was faithful about visiting both grandmothers and every two weeks dragging us (we thought) along. His mother taught me to play bridge when I was about 9, and gramps taught us songs he learned in the music halls of London when he was very young. Some very un-PC ones, ha, ha.
ReplyDeleteI need to start documenting my memories. Thanks for the push!
ReplyDeleteTeenagers tend to be phiistine in their behavior. You are not bad for that. My maternal grandma lived far away and I only got to see her once a year so I never really got to know her. Still, she sent pretty cards with money or a hanky inside. As a result of my parent's ugly divorce I didn't see my other gran (who didn't live close but was a Sunday drive away) for years until I re-established contact. And got a boatload of you-know-what from my mom when she found out. My sister the saint got into my personal stuff and narked me out to mom. I have no idea of how I got the way I am but I don't have time or energy to hate. Maybe it was the three years after I was born and we lived a few blocks away from my dad's folks. I was the first grandchild and everyone doted on me -- even my teenage uncles.
ReplyDeleteTreasure your memories, Maggie -- I wish I had more to sustain me.
I think when we're young we don't appreciate at all how important different people are to us. Too bad that by the time we figure it out, they're gone and you can't tell them. Hopefully somehow they knew it would be that way and forgave us even before we knew we'd need it. I'll bet they'd love seeing these lovely tributes now.
ReplyDelete