I’ve loved reading in the comments and emails about the various childhood memories. Twyla commented about her mom placing a sandwich on a plate with a country scene and now she’s managed to find a couple of those plates. Sometimes I think, at least for me, we don’t even realize we have a memory residing within our heads/hearts til someone says something that causes that memory to surface.
Yesterday while looking for an old glass salt shaker that I could use for my needles, I knew what I was looking for and didn’t find it. My grandma had glass salt and pepper shakers with a lid that was kinda domed but then flat on top. I found several salt shakers and Vince was helping me look but none of those were what I was looking for. I realize now that I’m looking for a salt shaker similar to my grandma’s. That’s not something I’m going to spend a lot of time looking for but that’s what’s stuck in my head. I didn’t even think about trying to find something similar to what she had til Twyla mentioned that plate.
I don’t dwell on it but I want there to be things Addie remembers that she does with me, or routines that we have that will some day make her smile. I don’t want it to be things I plan to do so she’ll have a memory – I just want it to be soemthing that happens at Granny’s that she remembers . . like the white plate with the green country scene. I’m quite sure Twyla’s mom didn’t put that plate out every time and think “She’ll remember this when she’s an adult and she’ll go looking for these plates.” Up until we moved here, I didn’t spend enough time with her doing what I do for her to develop those memories. I was either visiting briefly at their house or Addie and I were in a hotel doing things not my regular routine.
As an older adult now, I love when those childhood memories surface.
What are some of the good memories you have from childhood? Have you always remembered them or did something happen that caused you to remember them and smile?
Last Sunday I fixed tapioca pudding for dessert and got out some old green ice cream bowls. I had found them at an auction when we lived in Kentucky. They aren’t expensive – probably the kind of thing that came out of an oatmeal box or something similar. Addie had never seen them and she was so excited that I was using “fancy” dishes. She said “Can we use these every time we have ice cream?”
As of now, her memories will probalby be that we stay up half the night and she gets to sleep late or that I always have ice cream in the freezer. 🙂
Liz says
… There are a lot of “things” which jolt my memory of childhood, as well as spending time with my parents.
Mom made the best cabbage rolls and always used the same pan. She eventually gave me the pan, but I also asked her to show me how to make the rolls. I took pictures, including the lined up ingredients, and I think I even wrote a blog post to remember the day. I still have the pan though I haven’t made the cabbage rolls in a long time. I also have a few cast irons pans that Mom always used. Some of them were given to her by my paternal grandmother who apparently told Mom that if Dad ever acted up, she had permission to use the pan on him! Just joking but somehow I always remember the story when I use that pan.
Mom liked to wander through flea markets & antique stores, usually in Guthrie OK. I remember the trips, always wondering what she would select to buy & it would somehow remain at my house. But, I realized that she enjoyed looking through cookbooks and things. I learned to enjoy the experience and if I see one of the things she bought, it always reminds me of the experiences with mom.
Now that you have a memory of the salt and pepper shakers, it may be easier for you to enjoy wandering through the flea markets with Vince looking for the right shaker. And, you need to find some good frames for your needlework. It would be neat if you actually found some old samplers hiding in stuff. Going through those stores are always easier with an item in mind. And, it helps to get out of the house and do some walking.
Judy Laquidara says
Yes, so much more enjoyable when I’m halfway looking for something I can use. I still prefer not being around people. Didn’t see anyone in the flea market yesterday wearing a mask. I do need to be walking more though.
Verna A. says
When we stayed at my grandma’s house, we had ice cream in ‘fancy’ green glass dishes! I believe they were purchased at a gas station using some kind of stamps. It was a huge upgrade from our melamine bowls at home. Thanks for the memory!
Dotti Hossler says
I have my mother’s rolling pin. She was a great baker. At Christmas my mother had five choir members. Plastic, but when we divided things that was what everyone wanted. So each of us have one and my son and grandchildren look for it on the tree. Not an item of monetary value, but value of the memories are priceless. She loved Christmas and had a live Christmas tree until her passing. Some were flocked in pink, some flocked white or silver. She was very eclectic with her choices. We carry on the the tradition with a live tree, not the eclectic part.
Judy Laquidara says
I’m sure that makes Christmas more special for you and you’ll pass that tradition down to your grandkids!
vivoaks says
As a kid growing up, my mom ran a business from home (publishing poetry books), so I have a lot of them around the house now. Even though mom and dad are still living (88 and 99 respectively), they’ve moved a few times in the last 20 years and now live with my sister. Before their last move they asked us to each make a list of what we’d like, and though I never made the list, I asked for mom’s sewing cabinet. She’d made it herself at a “Homemakers”-type class. (Penn State Extension classes) and I think my dad did all the wood cutting. (He was a carpenter.) Anyway, it’s got shelves for threads, pockets for miscellaneous sewing things, places for machine feet, and hanging glass jars for buttons, crochet hooks, needles, etc. All the nails for placing spools of thread on aren’t the right size for spools we have now, but one shelf is full of my own threads. There’s even a cork on the side of one thread shelf for sitting a thimble on. So many clever things!! I loved sewing as a kid, and mom pretty much taught me all I know. I don’t know where it will end up when I’m gone – one daughter doesn’t sew at all and the other doesn’t do it much…I’ll keep hoping it will mean something to her and she’ll keep it in the family. 🙂
Joyce says
When my Grandma moved to assisted living, and we got her house ready for an auction, we (I) got to take anything I really wanted. I picked out a shallow serving bowl that is yellow with flowers around the edge. I had always liked it, because I think it is pretty. When I asked Grandma if I could have it, she laughed and said, “why do you want that old thing?” (emphasis on “old”) I told her I thought it was pretty, and I think about her whenever I see it. She just considered it an old bowl, and it is, but I think it’s special. I also have an old spice rack that hung on the wall in her kitchen. The containers are pink and the picture of the spice/herb is raised and forms the “handle” to pull it out of its slot. I have several items from her house, and it keeps her close to me. She’s been gone for 11 years, but seeing “bits” of her around my house makes me happy.
Judy Laquidara says
I think my grandma was often embarrassed by her mismatched dishes and odd pieces of furniture. I’m sure she never had any idea that some of us would have loved to have had a bunch of her stuff.
Susan Nixon says
One of my best memories is sitting at Mamo’s kitchen table while she made fried apricot pies. I loved those pies! Sitting at the top of her front porch steps that went all the way across the house, and talking to people passing by on the sidewalk. Watching her crochet grapes around bottle caps for trivets. She always watched Oral Roberts and put her hand on the TV when he said to, and she complained when we watched westerns, which she called “shoot ’em ups”. She had LONG silver hair, braided and wrapped in a coronet around her head, and she loved Jesus.
Judy Laquidara says
Sweet memories. I wonder if our grandparents had fond emories of their grandparents or if times were so hard, they tried to forget those days. I don’t remember my grandma making fried pies but one of her friends made fried peach pies and they were so good!