Aunt Bertha's Daughter Remembers

I do not remember Grandpa using crutches , however.
He used to walk with the hoe turned upside down. I can still hear the
hoe handle hitting the ground or the floor and then he would drag his
leg. He always wore those big boots of sorts and so they really made a
quite a scraping as he drug his leg, the hoe making the first thud!
Unlike you I was always afraid of Grandpa. I never remember him smiling
or talking much. I think that is why I always gravited to your father.
He was always teasing about something and I always felt that he truly
liked me. Uncle Howard and Uncle Jim were more like Grandpa and I was
always leery of them also.
My father was rarely cross or grumpy and I could never understand why the
rest of them were so brusque.
I remember Grandmother and her homemade apple pies as well as the
bread you could smell. She would always have a little leftover dough
that she would let us bake. We used to put sugar and cinnamon on the top
and then bake it in the oven.
I also remember Grandma telling me that I was going to swell up
and die because I used to climb out the second story window in the blue
bedroom and sit on the roof and eat the apples that Grandma was drying.
I never could resist them. They were so yummy.
I remember the parlor as a real scary place because it was always
dark in there and there were religious books on the tables. The only
time I remember the room being used was the Christmas your father gave us
the big stuffed dolls and Grandma and Grandpas 50th wedding anniversary.
Us kids got to share the flowers on the cake. Do you remember that?
Other fond memories. The ants marching one by one in the pantry.
I was fascinated and looked often for the ants and their long, long
trail from somewhereinto where Grandmother kept the food. After all we
didn't have ants and we had a refrigerator in the sticks where I lived! I
remember Grandmother would put out some sort of white powder to kill
them.
I remember all of the iris Grandma had. She wanted to get one of
every kind. Also her geraniums. They were really pretty. She had a
wooden box in her bedroom that she had covered with fabric and that is
where she kept her treasures. It was the only place she had to keep
things I think. I don't remember her having very many nice things do
you?
I found a very small quilt in Mom's chest and it has a note
pinned to it saying that it was made for Mom by Grandmother when she was
a very small child. She had never shown it to me but it must have meant
a lot to her or she wouldn't have pinned the note to it.