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Celebrating our Grandparents

9/11/2015

It has been a week full of Grandparent's Day fun! We have made crafts for our Grandparents, and enjoyed talking about how much we love them. When asked how old they thought their Grandparents were, some of the answers were as follows: 3, 102, 16, 12... When asked what they would buy their Grandparent if they could buy them anything: toys, dolls, and batman.

We had Grandparent Lunch today and had an awesome turnout! There were 68 Grandparents present, from our Jungle and Arctic Classes. (Pictures will follow very soon!)

Hope you all have an amazing weekend, and Happy Grandparents Day!

We LOVE our Grandparents.

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Things I remember as a child...

9/2/2015

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My mother was born Margaret Emma Greenwood. She was the first of ten children. That is right, my mom was the oldest and the youngest never lived in the house with her. My mom was something else. I take after her in a lot of ways.

Things were really different, when I was a child. I remember black and white televisions. Plus, they were small. I think the screen on ours was like 12 x 12 maybe, if that big. I remember my dad bringing home our first color television. I thought we were rich. Not that we were poor or anything, but I thought only rich people could afford a color tv. It was amazing. I remember asking my mom if we were rich, now.

I also remember our first microwave oven. It was big and cost a lot. I remember my mom getting mad at my dad because she wanted them to go in together and buy a microwave oven. He surprised her and bought one without her. She was not a "happy camper."

I remember having an out-house. Plus, I remember being scared, when you sat down and looked up and spied the wasp nest hanging beside the door. (Why did wasps always seem to build a nest in the out house?)

I remember our phone being on a party-line. You might have four or five other people on your line and when you picked up the phone, you would hear them talking. You could even politely ask someone to allow you to make a call. They would say okay and hang up so you could have the line. There were no such things as private phone calls. (We actually missed it, when "Ma Bell" gave us all our own private line.)

I remember playing outside in the dirt with cars and stuff. A child did not stay in the house. There was way more to do outside. Plus, we were told to, "Get outside!" One of my favorite toys was a magnifying glass. I would make up stories and roast ants in the hot beam from the Sun as I screamed for them, but not too loud. Sometimes, we played "chicken" to see who could stand the beam the longest on your bare arm.

I remember climbing trees and sitting on the roof. Yer, that is right. I would get on the roof or climb high in a tree. There was always an adventure being up so high. Sometimes, I was flying a plane and sometimes I was a firefighter rescuing someone from a burning building. Sometimes, I just sat up there and thought about life. Once, I was high in a tree and fell. I thought I was going to die, but I landed on a limb, up off the ground and it broke my fall. It hurt like someone had hit me in the back with a knobby limb. It knocked the breath out of me and I gasped to take in air. It scared me. I never told my mother. She would have given me "words" over it and I just did not want to hear it. That woman would get me in the car, with the doors locked, and start giving me the "talking to." Ugh! it was horrid.

I remember coming home one day and finding out that my great grandmother had passed away. She had been in the hospital, but today there were tons of people at her house. (I caught the bus in front of her house. My house was across the road from her.) I thought she had gotten better and had been sent home. No one had told me that she had gotten worse. I expected to see her at her house. I cried!

I remember her love and her hands and the way she made me feel like I was her favorite great-grand child. I am sure that I was. Granny dipped snuff. (I know, gross, but lots of old people did that, back then.) She would say, "Come her and give granny a kiss." I would, happily go to her, she would give me a kiss on my cheek that left a brown stain from the snuff. (I loved it.) Being so close to her, I could smell the snuff. It was kind of sweet.

She kept a can beside her chair so that she could spit into it. No one cared. We were extra careful about not knocking it over.

Granny had "Granny Hands." They are only reserved for a Granny. When I think of them, I can almost feel their rough texture because she worked in her flower bed and her hands were rough. She had a big pot out back and made soap. She had a "chamber pot" under her bed so she would not have to go out at night.

I remember someone building her a bathroom inside the house. She refused to use it for a spell. She said that God never intended those to be brought into the house. We all laughed about it. Later, she decided they were not too evil. Plus, it did get cold in the Winter.

I remember family. I remember that family was important. Everyone stood up for the family. In fact, if someone got mad at someone, the entire family was mad at that same person. Family was a tie that bound people together. There was nothing stronger than family.

I remember so many things that are different from today. It is just how things change over time. Time affects us all and it gets away from us, when we think it never will.

I was always told that today is the most important because tomorrow never comes. I encourage you to make memories. Make the most of family. Enjoy your children, while they are little. Way too soon they grow up.

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The children at NALC call me "Gomey."
I am the Chef for the center and I update and keep the website current. Feel free to drop me a message and I will be happy to get back to you.

Celebrating our Grandparents

Things I remember as a child...

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