Mom and I hit the road this morning, for a 90-minute drive over the river and through the woods, to Grandma's house. A lovely day! She fed us BBQ sandwiches for lunch, and strawberry ice cream and a cookie for dessert.
We retired to the living room after lunch, to "set a spell" and listen to the tick-tock of a clock...I'll admit I nodded off, though not so deeply that I couldn't pretend I hadn't.
In an effort to shake myself out of cozy GrandmaHouse stupor, I pulled out some photo albums. Most I'd already seen, but I came across a delightful new book that my Aunt had put together, full of certificates and letters. Here are some of our historical highlights:
This is the total for my Grandmother's 10-day stay in the hospital when my mother was born, in 1942. The room cost $4 a night, and the medicine they gave her came to 85 cents. The itemized column included "fan" and "radio" but the total room charge was a "flat rate." I'm not sure how much you can read here, but the total was $55.85, and my Grandfather paid $40 of the bill before leaving the hospital.
This letter from my mother to her mother, was written in 1952. Her handwriting was pretty good for a 10-year-old, don't you think?
And look at this excerpt from a letter I wrote to my Grandma when I was 7 years old. What an ungrateful brat I was!
The photos were great, but creeping through the handwritten history of my Grandmothers, my Mothers, and even my own life was a most wonderful gift....along with sitting around and guessing which recipe we all hated.
We decided it was probably the tomato aspic.
i wish i had my grandmother still. bbq sandwiches sounds so yummy!
ReplyDeleteSounds like your gramdmama does good with food. Mine likes to stuff me with (erm...) pork legs.
ReplyDeleteThanks but no thanks. I finally convinced her I'd have a heart problem if that went on... from shock & horror! :P
Nice one. We have alot in common, I have a boy age 21, and write all day, not enough hours...!
ReplyDeleteSorry you got modifed with the others, the button was on by accident xx
Where to begin? Glad you had a nice trip to grandma's. I'll be going to mine in 18 days for the Xmas visit. Very sorry to hear that your son opted for the military. You're both in my prayers. Hope this week is less hectic! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteV: I feel incredibly fortunate to be 42 and still have my Grandma around!
ReplyDeleteKurios: Pork Legs, huh? mmm...Someone just sent me a recipe today for Pepper Pot soup, which included a cow heel, cut into 4s. I'd eat the soup, but don't think I could fix it.
fjl: I'll be in touch, re: sons and other things! glad you stopped by!
Andy: Thanks for your kind words. Give Granny a kiss from me.
what a fantastic archive. That kind of history is irreplaceable. My grandmother makes the best fried chicken in the world, but when I was vegetarian all she could manage was egg salad sandwiches on buttered white bread. I still love that.
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