LEIF AND GRANNY

leif said...

What I meant to say was…
I remember…I remember…her red housecoat;
and her red house-shoes that leaned heavily to the side, reflecting the shape of her feet;
I remember how her feet reflected what the weight of years of surgery and walking everywhere would do;
I remember that in spite of that, she rarely hesitated to walk from the house on Hammond and Spurgeon to the Safeway that’s now gone just so I could play video games;
and I remember acting like a spoiled brat when she ran out of quarters;
I can see her fussing with her hairnet and her hair in general;
I remember when she had teeth;
I remember how clean her home ALWAYS was and yet I seldom saw her actually cleaning, but maybe she did it in the late night while I slept because I remember usually she could not;
I can feel the comfort of that gaudy divan and how she’s the only person I’ve ever heard call it a divan.
I remember those hotcakes and how she would make them anytime I asked, day or night;
I remember the syrup we always used: Griffins;And the sugar toast – I didn’t know it was unhealthy…she was granny and they tasted good;
I remember the gas space heater and how on cold Sunday mornings she would hold my church clothes up in front of it just so I could jump from warm bed to warm clothes;

We played gin-rummy, skip-bo and tri-ominoes and I don’t think I EVER won a game…
I remember growing up listening to Lawrence Welk and to this day I have (shhhh) an affinity for polka-music…I know, right!!!She liked Johnny Weissmuller and loathed being called “Mary-Nell.”
I remember how much she enjoyed Dr. Peppers…but only in the glass bottles.
I remember she could write a book of notes in the margins of the pages of a book, note after note after note. Voice recorders had nothing on her.
I remember being called “Bruce, uh Jason, uh Leif…” and “Leif-a-tater.”
I can hear her telling me to “come love my neck.”
I remember playing bingo every Tuesday night in the summers: when the number caller would announce a number, say g42, the caller would clarify by saying g-4-2.
Every single game, every single night, when the caller would yell i22 and follow it up with I – 2 – 2, my grandmother would say “You do and you’ll clean it up!!”
I guess some jokes just don’t get old…

I remember being told that until the day I was born she just knew I would be born with stripes…and I know that to her surprise and mine it was love at first sight…
I remember never experiencing any of her prejudices she may have had; I guess I helped her overcome herself in ways.

I remember being her favorite grandchild…that is till Jason and Stacey came along and ruined my show…
I remember I named her granny.
When I go to any beach, I will be in Galveston and I will listen for her.
I remember that despite the fact that as I unfortunately “grew up” and that I may have in a way forgotten about her, we were able to enjoy sometime together, on her terms, whether she was “here” or not - if she wanted to talk about the man up there on that wall, that’s what we would talk about, I followed and enjoyed it;

Bibi, I wrote this entirely for my healing. They are things I think I should have said when she and I parted.
I posted them here entirely for you because I know that there is a part of you that is saddened by my apparent coldness and that you must wonder how much I ever cared.
I posted this here in this forum so that your community could share in my contribution to your healing.

I cried today as I sat a thousand miles removed and wrote this feeling closer than ever.

I think that as I a child…she was actually my best friend and I am thankful to you and the universe for sharing her experiences with me.
A bushel and a peck…..