How’s your day been going?
Mine? Busy.
But not too busy for a sentimental trip down memory lane. Grab the Kleenex box.
Time for Day 28 of the Challenge – Something/Someone That I Miss
Something/Someone That I Miss
I miss my Grandma. She has been gone about 10 years now. I will try to paint a picture with words of this woman for you since I have no digital photographs of her.
She was at her peak, about 5’0′ tall and by the time she was 90 when she died, probably about 4’8″. I am almost 5’11” so I was taller than my grandma from the time I was a little girl, about the fourth grade or so. I loved the day I passed her up in height, and my mom, too. My grandma was short in stature, but was the biggest giver and had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known.
She would give you the shirt off her back, or cook or feed anyone and everyone. She worked at her Catholic parish serving funeral luncheons, retirement luncheons, working rummage sales, fundraisers, you name it, and she did it for for over 50 years. Yes, she belonged to the same parish for over 50 years. That’s the last of a dying breed.
She walked to 7am Mass every morning. Even in brutal Minnesota winters with -40F windchills, Grandma walked to Mass. It was about a mile each way. And she did it up until just a few years before she died. She only drove for a few years of her life. And by about 1950, never had a driver’s license.
She walked everywhere. She always said that walking kept her young. I agree whole-heartedly. She never “worked out” a day in her life. She lived her life, and that included lots of walking, and exercise was a by-product of living.
She loved life. She never complained. She believed in all that was good and right about the world. She was not cynical, jaded, and did not have a mean bone in her body.
She believed in God and had a faith stronger than anyone I have ever known. She didn’t need to talk about it, either. Just being in her presence, you knew this woman had strong convictions and didn’t need to evangelize or proselytize.
She loved all babies and children in a deep, reverent, spiritual way, and believed that they were truly a gift from God.
I attribute my psychic tendencies and abilities to my Grandma. In today’s terms, one may call her a medium. To me, she was just Grandma. But she could sense, know, predict, and foreshadow things and events. I know this is who I got my abilities from.
And this woman could cook. And she cooked without recipes. And to top it off, she was legally blind the last 20 years of her life. So not only was she cooking without recipes, she was cooking without much of her sight and truly cooked by feel.
Her savory dishes were referred to as “Polish Soul Food” as she called it. Russian and Polish-inspired food like piergoies and dumplings, cabbage, and always lots of homemade chicken noodle soup. Those are the savory smells of my grandma’s kitchen that are etched in my memory forever.
But the sweet smells are what my Grandmas was known for.
Bread. She baked bread without a recipe. Loaves of bread from wheat to banana.
My attempt at Gluten Free Vegan Banana Bread with PB
But no one could ever duplicate my grandma’s banana bread or chocolate chip cookies. And since she cooked without a recipe, much of it is lost forever. I talked about this here.
…and my Vegan GF No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
…will never hold a candle to anything she made. Or my memories of them.
After she died, we found cans of Folgers Coffee in her deep freeze and they had batches of chocolate chip cookies in them. All little old ladies who survived the Great Depression have deep freezes and massive food stashes, I think.
The childhood memories I have of being with her, of riding the city bus with her and going shopping, of her coming to stay at our house for a week or so at a time, of her loving me unconditionally and doing anything she could to make me happy and make my life better and happier, those memories are so cherished and so profound.
The only recipe of her that I have blogged about is her Special K Bars. I am so grateful to even have that recipe.
I miss you, Grandma!
Kleenex break for me.
Okay…done.
If you missed my other Challenge Posts, so far there is:
Day 2 – Where I’d like to be in 10 years
Day 6 – 10 Facts
Day 21 – Favorite Shows
Day 26 – What kind of person attracts you
From my last post about Tackling Tuesday, it was fun to hear what you tackled and it seems we all love that feeling of being productive. All the time. A blessing and a curse, no doubt.
Questions:
1. What is someone/something that you miss?
2. Do you have special memories of your grandparents?
Please share!
See you later, gang!
Oh Averie, what a nice tribute to your grandma. I do feel like I can “see” her now. I like talking about people who have died — I think it’s important to remember them and realize they’re still a part of our lives.
Unfortunately I don’t really have memories of my grandparents, as they all died when I was young except my grandpa who lives in Florida.
I miss my step-mom and I miss my friend who died when I was 14. Those losses have been the hardest for me.
oh erika, so sorry about those losses…at age 14. Hugs sweetie!
your grandmother sounds like such a beautiful woman inside and out. I miss my mimi and my papa soo much. They meant theworld to me and were such amazing people.
What a beautiful post! U got me tearing up : ( I just lost my gram back in October so this was so hard to read, but sooooo beautiful, all we have in life is memories, some bad, some good, and I love beautiful memories I have of people I miss , its funny because when my gram passed and we cleaned out her apartment , she had about 30 cans of folgers coffee, except they were just full of coffee!! lol! I dont know why she had so many, and let me tell you , carrying all those suckers out was heavy in a boxes full of them! I wish there were cookies in them instead!
Thanks for sharing these beautiful memories of your gram, Im sure she looks over you and your loves everyday : ) xoxo
Sounds like an amazing women. Makes me miss my grandma’s too. One of them was famous for her cookies that I still recreate to this day accept they NEVER quite taste the same as hers did. I used to go to school and all my friends would ask me if I had any grandma cookies cause she would send us home with bags of cookies, all the different kinds had their own bag. Thanks for bringing me back to those days… I’m sure our grandma’s are up in heaven baking away and my other grandma is playing the piano for them. :) By the way, this must be why your those special k bars are sooo good!
Tissue break for me!! Gotta love grandma’s, they’re irreplaceble in our thoughts. They always know the right things to say, the only ways to make you feel better and it warms my soul to have such a wonderful grandma. I know you miss yours and I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful grandma one day :)
This is so well written and very touching. She seemed like an amazing woman and it is great that you had someone that influential in your life.
I miss my dad. He raised me for the most part and I learned so much from him! He was definitely way ahead of his time eating a raw food diet, practicing yoga, and trying to use every experience as a learning opportunity for me. I really regret that I wasn’t more receptive to all of that as a child- but I was just a kid and didn’t know what was best for me.
After a nasty custody battle with my parents, I went to live with my mom in Texas and essentially lost touch with my dad. He sent me a letter and a vegan cookbook when I was a senior in high school, and I never responded. 3 months later we learned that he had passed away at an ashram in India. I hated myself for the longest time for not making more of an effort to stay in touch with him after I moved to live with my mom-but she never really encouraged it either. I wish I had taken the time to cultivate a better relationship with him, or that I had at least seen him before he died. I will never have that closure, though, and it still bothers me today. But- I am doing everything I can in my own life to be the person I know he would have wanted me to be!
Omg Sonia, I had no idea. I am so very very sorry. Please know I am here for you, always. Thank you for sharing this!
Thanks for sharing! I miss my dear friend who was a best friend/sister at one time in my life. She is the only person my age that I was close to, who I have seen leave this earth. It really puts life into prospective for sure. Love your blog and thanks for the quick and mess free recipes!
I didn’t think this post would get me but it did.
My grandpa died about 6 years ago, he was my favorite person in the world. So many memories, I don’t even know where to start. I hold onto the fact that hummingbirds remind me of him (and I see them often in strange places) and the number 2:22 was our lucky number, and I look at the clock and see that # most days!!
I am honoring him at my wedding too, as long as it arrives safe and sound, I’ll have a small hummingbird in my bouquet and I have one of his *blue* hankies to keep with me when I cry! He would have been so excited to see his “J” get married, so I feel like a special part of him will be there with me. *ssshhhsshhh, now you got me crying more! :P
Thank you for sharing your memory, that was a very special post!
xo
thanks jessica for crying right along with me :)
and your wedding tribute is going to be beautiful!
averie, this is such a sweet post and touched my heart because it is so similar to my grandmother. My grandmother was right off the boat from Poland, tiny little woman, loved to cook every day in her kitchen for all of her grandchildren and I never saw her look at a single recipe. Everything she made came from her head- the best breads, pierogie, homemade noodles, soups, Polish crepes (nalesniki) stuffed with a sweet cheese filling.. I could go on forever. I would spend weekends with her when I was younger and write everything down because I knew one day that I would cherish all of those recipes and make them for my own family, and I loved spending every moment with her. She would pray every morning for a good two hours and had a heart of gold. Thank you for sharing your story with us because it really touched me
i think our grandma’s were probably related…in so many ways! :)
This was a wonderful post. I miss my grandparents so very much too.
Averie what a lovely post! Your Grandma sounds like one heck of a woman.
My mom’s parents died before I was 2 years old, so I don’t remember them at all. My dad’s parents died before I was 12, so I don’t remember them much either. They lived in Milwaukee and we wouldn’t see them much. It makes me sad to even think about it. I do my best to stay close with my parents and Jason’s family because if and when we have kids one day, I want them to know their grandparents. There is so much to learn from those with experience!
What a fantastic post. You’ve mentioned your grandma before, but this post was so descriptive I can picture her in my mind’s eye :)
Special memory: On Sunday’s after Church, we would head over to my paternal grandparents’ house. There they taught us how to play poker. We each had our own of pennies that was used for this special occasion. They taught us 5 card stud, as well as the different wild cards that could be called and used – dealer’s choice of course. Through my grandparents we learned how to shuffle cards, how to deal cards, and perfected counting in our heads (through dealing the cards, and keeping track of the anty). Important life lessons of being a good sport, no sore loosers, how to bluff, when to go “all in”, and when to fold / walk away. Another great lesson: don’t count your money in public (aka: at the poker table).
While we played poker, my grandmother had the hot dogs boiling on the stove. They boiled until they were swollen and split open down the centre. While we cleaned up after the poker game, my grandmother would toast the hot dog buns, and fry up some onions. Then we would all sit down to a the most wonderful hot dog lunch I have ever experienced – followed by servings of McCain frozen chocolate cake or chocolate swirl ice cream.
I’m positive that the meal was so good, not because of the food that was prepared, but because of the time that we shared together at the table, and the conversations that we all had. Special and wonderful memories.
Your grandma sounds so special. Thanks for sharing your memories of her.
My two grandfathers passed away last year, but my grandmothers are still living, and this post makes me want to call them up RIGHT NOW and tell them that I love them!
Post brought tear to my eyes, girl!
Ive recently lost both of my Grandfathers, both my dads dad and mothers dad. They were both very old school. Strict and quite. They only talked when spoken too, and when they did you listened because each word they said meant something and was full of wisdom.
But the one thing I will carry with me from both of them is that they both played sports. Im a huge sports fan and know you arent the biggest sport guru but My dads dad played college basketball and unfortunately had to stop due to being drafted into WWII, but before the war he was one the best I guess and led his teams to alot of wins. And yes he played during the times of shooting free throws “granny Style” underhanded! Luckily they have alot of pictures of him playing so we can imagine what it was like to watch him play! Also he was one of the biggest Greenbay Packer Fans, he even had the big yellow plastic cheeseheads!!! So when the Packer won the superbowl this sunday it was a very bittersweet day for us! Go Pack!
Also my moms father I guess was a heck of a softball player and played minor league softball for a local team. They say he was one of the hardest throwing pitches and would even practice pitching from SECOND base instead of the pitchers mound!
Miss those guys. Sorry for your loss but just remember they are in a better place, with much less pain and worries! Heres a cheers to a better day and celebrate their time and place here while we could spend time them!