Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles.
For me when I think of what life was like when I was growing up I remember family. My Grandparents, Parents, Aunts and Uncles and all the fond memories that went with having them in my life.
I remember aprons, and stew simmering on the stove, biscuits and iron skillets. I remember outhouses and chickens and gathering eggs. I remember Bibles and Hats, scarves and handkerchiefs, crochet and knitting, and old petal organs. I remember blacksmithing, fishing, rivers and old wooden bridges. I remember dirt roads and gravel roads, squeaky doors and wood plank floors, rocking chairs and peas and butterbeans in their laps. I remember wringer washers and open windows with curtains blowing in the wind. I remember never starting a meal without a prayer and going to bed after kneeling beside the bed to say our prayers.
I remember cotton slips, white gloves, black gloves, pearls and sequins, lace and hand fans. Bed sheets and diapers blowing in the breeze, barrels filled with crackers and bologna sandwiches.
I remember laughter.
I remember what “they” did and not as much what I did. I wonder, what will children in today's time remember?
We should pick up where our generations before us left off and help to continue the trend of good memories.
I did not know that what they did back then would be so important to me until after they were gone. I wish I would have paid more attention. I wish I could garden as my Grandmother did because she could grow most anything she put in the ground. I do try but it is just not the same.
Now that I am older I try to do everything I do with more purpose. No matter where we are, do everything we do as if someone is watching because someone is.
Teach what you know to a child, young adult, middle age adult or even an older adult so we can keep the old skills going. It could be as simple as a man to teach a young man to tip his hat as a friendly gesture or remove his hat as a sign of respect. It truly is the little things that matter. When I say teach what I mean is do this in front of them so they can see what you do and the way others react.
If you did not Learn a skill then figure it out and get good at it. It could be most anything. Learn to crochet a dishrag or knit or sew. Learn to embroidery a pillow case, something that you can pass on to a child. A man can teach a child the same as a woman can. Children need the interaction and a chance to learn new skills and if they learn it from us they will always have that memory.
It is the simple things in life that mean the most. One of my visitors to this website sent me a photo of her Grandmother standing by her wooden house with a long front porch. She spoke of an old flower pot in the photo that now belongs to her and how when she was a child she tied a string to an old wooden doll bed that once belonged to her mother. The bed had wheels and she would pull the bed back and forth across that front porch. The bed was retrieved years later from the dusty old barn with the string still attached and she felt she had opened a time capsule. Thank you Joy for sharing.
Those are the memories I am talking about. Our young people today could use some old fashioned memories.
Wherever you are and a child walks by or is in view, make eye contact with that child and let your face light up as if you are so happy to see them. This will give them the feeling that they matter. Many children are being ignored these days because their parents are addicted to many things. The electronics today keep parents focused on their devices instead of their children. Remember this the next time you go somewhere and you see a child.
Grandma Donna
