Memories of a Grandmother (Part One)

One summer when I was eleven, I went to visit my Grandmother in Peoria, Illinois. I got to go by myself, without any sisters or my brother. Just me and my Grandma. I thought I was special, and I learned a lot of things in that two week period. Things that molded me and things I'll carry with me all of my life.

I loved my Grandma Imo. To a little girl who was in awe of this woman, that brought gifts and stories and lots of love from far away .... getting to visit her, and have her to myself was the best thing in the world to me.

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When we were growing up, in a small town in Illinois, a visit from Grandma Imo was a rare treat. She would stay a night with us, and a night with our cousin's. She would make hot Tea for us, with cream, and we would stay up in the wee hours of the night talking and playing Scrabble and Yahtzee. She was funny. She laughed so good, and she was timeless. She never changed.

Every visit came with a quarter from her. It was her signature. Beautiful shiny quarters that were special because they came from a Bank in Peoria ... and they were so special. We never saved them. It became tradition to run around the corner to a little grocery store and buy a Lemon. I remember she taught us to put salt on them, and squeeze a little juice, just a little at a time. We would make our Lemons last all day.

She always came with her suitcase, and an overnight case that held treasures, that only a little girl would love. My sisters and I would stand behind her in the bathroom as she got ready for the day, and gingerly touch all the wondrous bottles she had in her case. She would make something as simple as spraying her hair, a huge ordeal ... and we would giggle and duck, so we didn't get sprayed. We watched every stroke of her hand as she put on makeup, and we loved the perfume we watched her dabble onto her neck, for we knew that we too ,would smell like Grandma that day.

In the very bottom of her makeup case, she would always have a little bitty container that we coveted. It held the most prized possessions in the world. As her long fingernails would break, she would save them in a little glass container, and one of us would be Queen for the day. She would bring her own special tape, and a bottle of the most beautiful Red fingernail polish, and she would tape her very own fingernail to our finger and paint it Red. She would gently blow it, until it dried, and then she would play with us, and call us, "Dahling!" It was glorious to be the winner of that old broken fingernail. .... and she never forgot who's turn it was when she came back to visit.

We knew that the trunk of her car held things that only she could bring. As I look back in my childhood memories and laugh, I know that the gifts she brought us were out of pure love.

Grandma had a variety of jobs in her life. She once worked in a plastic factory, and she would tell us stories of eating lunch with her friends. We knew them, each and every one by name, and she made them sound special. She would bring us plastic "globs" from when the colors were changed in the machines. We were such lucky kids to have one of these rainbow swirled globs of hardened plastic. They were treasures in our eyes. Brought only for us. By a woman that loved us from the bottom of her heart.

In between visits, she would write us letters, and tell of what she was bringing. I savored her letters. She would write to me in "Pig Latin" that summer. I still have those letters from forty years ago. She used her time making us handmade toys and sewing us dolls and dresses and monkey's and barefoot sandals. Each and every item was to be squealed over and treasured.

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So for me to have the honor of spending two whole weeks with her .... was the highlight of my life up to that point. I have never forgotten each and every day that I spent with that woman, and I'll always cherish the things she taught me. Come back to read Part Two of my memories.

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What are the dearest memories you have of your Grandmothers? What did they teach you? Do you want to instill their qualities in your own children? Are they still with you? If so, you're blessed.