My Grama's Kitchen

Yesterday in CBS (Community Bible Study) it was a brunch morning. Every now and then a few people sign up to bring food and we enjoy a time of chatting and digging into a scrumptious breakfast before digging into our study. We usually have a "question" to discuss while eating and this morning was no different. Our topic to discuss was, "Your Grandmother's Kitchen."

I listened to many of the ladies in our group (who are... how shall we say it... slightly more aged than me. I'm the youngest one in the group. The majority are retired.) talk about their grandmother's old farmhouses with wood burning stoves that they used to bake amazing pies, casseroles and heat the house. They rolled out dough on their wooden counter tops ("Nothing like this fancy granite and formica" as one gal put it) while they donned their aprons, multitasking in baking, washing the floor, milking the cow, feeding the children and the men when they came in from the field, while they managed to quote Scripture to their grandchildren.

As I thought about how I would answer this question, I had to chuckle to myself. Those things were NOT NOT NOT my Grama (Yep, she was my "Grama" not "Grandma"). As I thought about it, I realized that I had an extreme fondness of my Grama's kitchen. It wasn't typical, but she wasn't your typical Grama either.

When you walked into Grama's kitchen there was a table straight ahead of you, it was pushed all the way up against two walls, leaving only two sides to sit at. But no matter, it was only her living in the house. At the table you could find her Caboodle loaded to the brim, but very organized, with makeup. There was a round mirrior with a tube light around it that could be flipped over for a magnifying mirror on the other side. There was a curling iron or two, some hot rollers maybe and any other beautifying items that a woman might need. Her bathroom was small, so she was practical. Don't use the kitchen table for eating much since you live alone? Make it into your vanity!

To the right was her refrigerator, which I don't remember much about except that she had a Tupperware container for pickles that was always fully stocked just for me. She also must have eaten a lot of things with cheese on them because she always had little jars of spreadable cheese. We were always the recipients of said little jars after the cheese was gone, they were perfect juice cups for kids! Next to the fridge there was an oven. I don't know if she ever actually used the oven... it was the "cabinet" for her Ruffles chips.

Across the room (like 2 feet) was her great big sink, that was like a double wide with no separator. We took baths in there for years and years! Next to the sink was a counter with two large cabinets overhead. I don't recall her ever using the counter to prepare food. What was it used for? Why to wrap presents for other people of course! I used to sit atop the counter and I always got to put the tape on the presents being wrapped. I always wanted to put the tape parallel with the edge of the wrapping, but Grama insisted that I do it perpendicular and she used such long pieces. I never understood this and still don't. But then again, I have an obsession with tape. My mom would never let me use her tape, probably because I would use it all for my "projects." I would often sneak into our kitchen and pull off a LOOOOOOONG strip of tape, run to my room and stick it on the back wall of my closet, so that if I asked for tape and she said no, then I could just go to my stash. Weird. Anywho, I digress. Back to Grama's.

In the cabinets above the counter top, what else would you find in there, but oodles and oodles (those are the words she would have used) of checkbook boxes, old margarine containers, and Byerly's to-go containers filled with what else? Jewelry!! Lots and LOTS of costume jewelry. I think she single handedly kept Joyce, her Avon lady in business. She had jewelry for EVERY occasion. I kid you not, she even had a ring that said "VOTE" which I believe my mom now has and definitely wears on Election day. She had more earrings, necklaces, broaches, & rings in every color, genre, style and size than you could ever imagine.

Two other things I remember being in that cabinet were nailpolish remover in those little jars that had the sponge right in them, so all you had to do was stick your finger in and move it around, up and down and the nail polish came off. And also she must have worn a lot of panty hose because she kept all the cardstock type paper that panty hose were wrapped around, as paper for us to write notes on or color on. Jeremiah's Grandma was a teacher and thus always had tons of construction paper (which I actually inherited) for them... nope not my Grama! Panty hose paper!

It's fun, thinking back on these times, my atypical experiences with my Grama in her kitchen. Experiences of which the ladies of Bible study laughed and laughed at! It was so fun to recall my Grama and the "quirks" she had. It wasn't your normal Grandmother's kitchen, but it was my Grama's kitchen. We spent hours in there, trying on jewelry, fixing our nails, and wrapping presents. My Grama was most definitely a gifts girl. She had gifts for all of her children and grandchildren for years on out, up in her attic. She loved to buy for other people. When she got older and had less and less money and more and more grandchildren, she used to give us each a two dollar bill for Christmas. She always lamented how she wanted to give us more, but I didn't care. I still have all of those two dollar bills.

Good memories of time together, no matter what they are, are important. Creating those times together, laughing, talking, visiting and just being are crucial.

I'm grateful for the Grandparents my children have. They are so very blessed. As I write this, Jonah is at Grandparents day with Grandma Judy. Tomorrow Aphia gets to go to Grandpa Rob and Grandma Bonnie's to spend time with them and her best cousin Addi. My dad gifts the younger children with his time every Tuesday while I go to work. My mom came out to our house just before their 2 week long vacation to hang out with the kids for a couple hours because she wasn't going to see them for 2 weeks (I wouldn't mind not seeing them for 2 weeks sometimes!!!!).

Thank you Grama, for the love you gave, for the time you devoted, for the laughs we had until we cried, for putting up with my brattiness when it was shining through, for being the first one to open up your arms and hold me the day my best friend's dad died, for sharing our Christmas mornings with us in your red Christmas robe, for letting me play dress up with all your dresses, jewelry, shoes, purses, hats, gloves, scarves, and fur wraps, for the pickles, for always being the first to arrive at our birthday parties. I love you and miss you terribly. I wish my kids knew you. Aphia and her girly ways are (I know!!!) making you one proud Great Grama up in heaven. I love you.