tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post366977150366358189..comments2024-03-20T08:32:25.794-04:00Comments on Dept. of Nance: To Grandmother's House We GoNancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17627214346956206283noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-46644950032842729162011-03-14T17:43:51.743-04:002011-03-14T17:43:51.743-04:00*tearing up* Thank you for this memory you painte...*tearing up* Thank you for this memory you painted so vividly for me, sis!Sister Suenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-40188575808841739982011-03-03T16:28:30.809-05:002011-03-03T16:28:30.809-05:00J@jj--Thank you. Grandma left most of the housewor...J@jj--Thank you. Grandma left most of the housework to Grandpa. Her gig was sewing. As a matter of fact, I think I was in 7th or 8th grade until I had a store-bought winter coat. She made all of her dozens and dozens of grandchildren's coats. How on earth she managed it, I'll never know. She also made all of her dresses, too. I know how fortunate I am to have such charmed memories of them and their home, believe me. I'm glad you have good memories, especially of your cantankerous grandfather. No one is perfect, that's for sure, and perhaps that's what your grandfather's legacy can ultimately be for you. He was the embodiment of that lesson, sounds like. (And I love a good split pea soup.)Nancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17627214346956206283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-88431937565717495722011-03-03T01:50:23.173-05:002011-03-03T01:50:23.173-05:00Oh what a lovely post. I've come back a few t...Oh what a lovely post. I've come back a few times to read it actually over the last few days.<br /><br />My memories of my Grandparents' house is very mixed. They moved several times, so things did move around a lot. My Grandma has never been crafty, does her housework with a lick and a promise, didn't cook much, but has always been (and still is) there with a good family story and a laugh at the nature of life in general. My Grandpa died in '88. I loved him dearly, but he was a mean old cuss who did his best to make everyone miserable. He did make some amazing split pea soup, though, and he'd give me apple turnovers for breakfast if I spent the night.<br /><br />Maybe tonight as I'm drifting to sleep, I'll travel through their house, and think of the best memories there. :)Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00653383372182667361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-63533805410706012842011-03-01T17:53:04.736-05:002011-03-01T17:53:04.736-05:00V--I'm sorry that your grandparent experience ...V--I'm sorry that your grandparent experience and that of your children isn't as warm and comforting as mine and some of the commentors' here. I hope that your kids can find a grandmotherly/grandfatherly figure in their lives as Nancy was able to and as I did, too, to provide that sort of experience. My paternal grandfather was already dead when I was born, and my dad's mom died when I was about 2 or so. She was also an invalid from a ravaging form of cancer. All I remember of her was her head on a pillow, her calling me the Croatian term for "little darling", and her trying to feed me marshmallow peeps each time I visited. Luckily, there are wonderful stories about them both, so I at least have sort of vicarious memories.Nancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17627214346956206283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-82630728040688005962011-02-28T10:28:28.792-05:002011-02-28T10:28:28.792-05:00I never had the experience of going to Grandma'...I never had the experience of going to Grandma's house. I only knew one of my grandparents, my maternal grandmother. She lived with us because she was an invalid. I envied friends who had grandparents to spoil them and dote on them and connect them to the past. Sadly, my children have had the exact same experience I did. They only knew one of their grandparents, and she was chronically ill.V-Grrrl @ Compost Studioshttp://www.v-grrrl.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-64983170567215371452011-02-27T11:06:17.670-05:002011-02-27T11:06:17.670-05:00Jaclyn--I'm sorry that reading here made you c...Jaclyn--I'm sorry that reading here made you cry, but I'm glad that my writing evoked such a strong response. Welcome to the Dept., where I try to do that in every post. Thanks for visiting and commenting, and I hope you do so often.<br /><br />Lisa/Anali--I'm sure that if some of my cousins or even siblings read this, they would find some discrepancies, but that's the lovely thing about memory: it is soft and blurry and malleable, and it lives in each of us, independent of photographic reality, preferring instead to be intimately personal and comforting. As a bonus, it seems to be able to evoke touchstones of the past in others, like your grandfather's easy chair, and your grandmother's coffee. Isn't it wonderful?<br /><br />Nancy--My grandparents lived about 45 minutes away, but we didn't see them as often as you may think, so I "adopted" a grandma across the street. Like you, I felt lucky to have a shared grandma to spend time with. Glad I could bring her back to you for a time.Nancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17627214346956206283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-33893642641749152522011-02-26T22:16:04.675-05:002011-02-26T22:16:04.675-05:00This is the first time I remember reading a blog t...This is the first time I remember reading a blog teary-eyed! Wait, who am I kidding? I cry at the drop of a hat - the smell of the pipe tobacco my dad smoked, the taste of hot-water cornbread like we ate at Sunday dinner. The total randomness & déjà vu quality of these memories can be both overwhelming and comforting. I get it…thanksJaclynnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-50743308911238900132011-02-26T14:44:52.589-05:002011-02-26T14:44:52.589-05:00You took us all back with this one Nance. It's...You took us all back with this one Nance. It's amazing how so many memories are hovering just below the surface waiting to be pulled up. I can see my grandparents sitting at the kitchen table. My grandfather listening to the radio and the smell of his cigar. His brown leather recliner chair in the living room. My grandmother stirring her coffee...Lisa Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08096947438461486505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-24564110787993237232011-02-25T19:42:38.350-05:002011-02-25T19:42:38.350-05:00The wonderful couple that your post brings to my m...The wonderful couple that your post brings to my mind were not MY Grandparents,they rightfully belonged to my friend. But, I was lucky enough to spend two weeks with them for many Summers when I was a child.<br /><br />They must have heated the old house with Kerosene. There were many cold mornings in Oswego,N.Y.even in August..being directly on Lake Ontario.<br /><br />To this day, many years later, if I get one whiff of kerosene I am right back at the kitchen table in the farmhouse with Grandma and Grandpa Smith.<br /><br />Thanks for the memories,Nance.Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09426821858355153898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-4676790057343421052011-02-25T09:12:48.209-05:002011-02-25T09:12:48.209-05:00Garianne--I have Grandma's dining room table a...Garianne--I have Grandma's dining room table and chairs and a few knick-knacks. But you're right, it's the memories that are my greatest treasure of all.<br /><br />Mary G--Thank you for the praise. I'm sure that many people will find themselves smiling with common remembrance at a few of these details. What is it about grandmas? Did they all take a special class or something?<br /><br />The Bug--My grandma adored strawberries, so she'd never mix them in with anything else. She loved them sliced over vanilla ice cream, and if she could eat them on her front porch, so much the better. Glad to have taken you back to your own Grandma's House for a bit.Nancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17627214346956206283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-45117657600889640592011-02-23T21:02:08.899-05:002011-02-23T21:02:08.899-05:00What a great post! I also have fond memories of b...What a great post! I also have fond memories of both sets of my grandparents. I still make chocolate chip cookies and raisin cookies just the way my grandma in Minnesota did - otherwise they just don't taste right. My mother still has a china hutch that she inherited when her mother died. All I have to do is open the door to the hutch where the smell of grandpa's pipe tobacco transports me back to their home in Florida. Like you, I can take a "walk" through each of their homes and know what was where and the special places my brother and I would play. We're lucky to have such fond memories. I know I treasure mine.<br /><br />GarianneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-32838480926111874952011-02-23T10:55:18.262-05:002011-02-23T10:55:18.262-05:00What a wonderful post. It really takes you there....What a wonderful post. It really takes you there. Atmosphere, detail, the love you felt for it all. Just perfect!<br />And it takes me back to my grandparents' house, treadle sewing machine, kitchen cupboards and all. I will have to make a try at doing my own word picture and can only hope it will turn out to be half as good as this one.MARY Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13178370815712313585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15179498.post-86922204587442400392011-02-23T10:08:41.736-05:002011-02-23T10:08:41.736-05:00Oh this took me right back to my grandparents'...Oh this took me right back to my grandparents' house! She made rhubarb pie too, but I didn't like it. She disguised it with strawberries - got me every time. My grandmother didn't do cookies, but she had a stash of little boxes of raisins in the bottom drawer - & if we were good we got to eat one of my grandfather's orange flavored vitamin c tablets. Good times :)The Bughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07509037206264761261noreply@blogger.com