Grandma's dishes

My grandmother died 32 years ago in 1977. I thought about her this month as Karen was getting married and thought to myself how ironic it was that Karen had my mother at her wedding but not my dad. (he died 5 years ago) At my wedding in Dec 1977, I had my grandfather in attendance but not my grandmother.

I wrote the journaling for this page a long time ago and have saved it to use on this layout that I have finally gotten around to doing. This is about my memories of my grandparents.

My grandma Johnston died on October 1, 1977 before seeing any of her grandchildren marry. My wedding on December 10 that year was the first of my generation of cousins. Grandpa died on December 12 just two days later. Because we married with practically nothing of our own, my dad and my uncles offered to let Curtis and me take anything we wanted from the house. We took the living room furniture, the kitchen table, some knick knacks and these dishes. Over the past thirty years, all of the furniture has been replaced but I still have these dishes. They have moved with me from our apartment to our first house to this one we are in now. I never use the dishes although I occasionally use the serving bowl. I like to take them out and look at them, now and then. The memories I associate with them make me happy. We would eat Thanksgiving dinner there and Grandma’s dressing was the best. There was always a wash cloth next to Grandpa’s plate because a stroke had left him weak on one side and he sometimes had to wipe his mouth while eating. There were always Fig Newtons in the pantry and we had fresh eggs from their chickens for breakfast when we spent the night. We would go for what seemed like such long walks around the edge of their property and the goats in the pasture would run if we got close. I remember Grandpa asking me if I was married yet every time we visited. When I was a small child, it was hilarious and now I wish they were still around so I could answer “yes.” I could tell them how happy I am. I could show them how beautiful all of their great grandchildren are and I could show off my grandson. I hope when he grows up, he will have fond memories of going to Grandma’s house, too.