Grandparents Day

It turns out this last Sunday was Grandparents day in the U.S. and Canada (it is the first Sunday of October in the U.K.).

Does anybody have any great memories of their Grandparents?

I had a few fathers growing up, so I had several sets of grandparents on my father(s) side that I only saw on occasion. But I remember my mother's mother and step-father very well (her real father died when she was only 16, so I never met him).

I remember when I was between 5 & 10 my grandparents lived on about 20 acres in Nevada, they had cows and chickens and one year even a few pigs. I remember going out with my grandfather to milk the cows and feed the chickens (I was afraid of the chickens). I remember strange stuff like straining the gnats out of the fresh milk.

My grandmother had a ceramic studio with a large kiln and I used to make ceramic decorations with her in the afternoons (I still have many of them). They didn't have a t.v. so in the evenings they would read, and I remember playing with a an old hour glass almost everynight. When my grandmother died about 10 years ago, my aunt tried to give me some of her jewelry and china, but I told her all I really wanted was that old hour glass. None of the other grandchildren seemed to care about it so I have it now. It always reminds me of visiting their ranch when I was a kid.

From my dad I only had a grandmother. I loved it to visit her.
We had the same name and we drunk many cups of tea.
She always came to us with our birthdays, for Sinterklaas and Christmas.
My dads dad passed away when I was three years old.

The parents of my mom lived on one hour and half drive from us.
so we didn't see them much.
I'm sure the relationship with your grandparents is different when they life close to you.
Sometimes we went with mom to the birthdays of my grandparents.
My grandparents had a litte house behind their own house and we often stayed their with the family for vacation.
They lived close to the sea.

An hour and a half doesn't really seem like that far away (kind of surprised you didn't see them more), but the United States is a much bigger country and we drive a lot here. Wow, wish my Grandparents had lived by the sea.

Come on everybody else, nobody here can remember their Grandparents?
Too much rock music turning your brains to mush?

My maternal Grandfather died in '69 (the year I turned eight), but I have some really good memories of him. My Dad and him were close, because they had a lot in common, so where they went, I went. We did a lot of hiking in the woods because Grandpa knew where to find ginseng, which he harvested and sold. I learned much in the short time he was part of my life, and even forty years later, I still miss him. My maternal Grandma on the other hand, made it til '89, so I could fill many pages with anecdotes about her, and Like Grandpa, she taught me much that has enriched my life, and is sorely missed. My paternal Grandparents were a little more distant- not geographically, but emotionally. For whatever reason, I was not a favorite with them, so there was never the closeness I had with Mom's folks. I lost them in the 70's- Grandad in '71, and Grandma in '76, and even though we weren't close, part of me misses them and wishes we had been. On the bright side, all my grandparents were Christians, so I'll have eternity to be with them.

Thanks for sharing that Joe, good stuff.

My paternal grandfather was a real character. Ichabod was his nickname in town, but we just called him Pop. For a while, he lived next door to us and when I would see him heading to his car, I would tag along and ride with him. Sometimes our trips would be just to the store for a cold drink and candy, other times we would ride the back roads and he would teach me the fine art of being a genuine smarta$$, worthy of his name.

When I started 7th grade, I was allowed to be in the high school band. While drums were my passion, all they needed was someone to play trumpet. One day, I went to band practice and he had been there and bought me an OLD, UGLY, barely operable Buescher trumpet from the school. I sure miss that old codger.

'Grandma', my maternal grandmother was the spiritual adviser of our family. For years we were FORCED to go to church with her. When I was 14, I started having an insane desire to drive. Since she lived across the street from church, I saw my chance. After Sunday School, I would sneak out of church, go to her house and steal that wonderful 1973 Plymouth Duster and ride the roads for an hour. Thank God we were Baptists and that those people made the preacher follow the clock..