A Taste of Fall & Old Memories
A couple years ago my Aunt text me asking me if there was anything from my great grandmother’s home, as they were going through it getting ready for it to sell. I told her there wasn’t anything that I could think of that I really wanted as there wasn’t anything that really came to mind that was a vivid memory of that was in her old house that I wanted. I remembered her living room the most with her and Ed’s old recliner chairs, the old dark wooden frames filled with photos strung along the walls, the old large floor TV that played Wheel of Fortune. I remembered the large portrait of them behind her chair and the large mirror beside it, and that coo-coo-clock that chimed on the hour. I remembered the knick-knacks she collected and the cookies she had every time I would visit in the square Tupperware. I had those memories and they were enough for me but I told my Aunt that if there was something she thought I would particularly like to put it aside and send it out the next time my Dad came to visit.
She sent an box filled with some cookbooks, a wine set and a couple of glassware items. I kept them in the storage room until we found a house and moved. I said goodbye to my Great Grandma B on May 3rd, 2014 and spent the last days of her life beside her bed. I’m not very materialistic, I tend to hold onto memories more than things, which is good because several items were broken in the move. The pink bowl and this glass jar. Once we moved, I knew I wanted to put them out. They’ve sad on the mantel edge empty but their pretty so I left them there.
I said goodbye to my other great grandma, Grandma Pinder on September 9, 2005. She’s A’s namesake and I have so many memories of her from growing up, the sound of the wooden stairs of her bungalow and the creak of that porch swing. I remember the smell of her home and the sound of our footsteps on the real wooden floors. Her house had old glass knobs, a claw foot tub and a phone in the hallway that I loved to sticking my fingers into to spin the numbers. Autumn reminds me of her, I think it’s a mix of her birthday being November 1 – she would have been 106 this year – and that caramels, as well as, Werther’s candies make me think of her. I always get a hankering for them in the fall.
Now that we are settled I’ve been wanting to fill the pink glass jar with goodies. Caramels & Werther’s just felt right, both grandmas loved them. I love telling A old stories of her grandmothers, as she’ll always carry them with her – one as a memory in photos and one as a namesake. Last night I got the jar down and the bags of candy out; then had A hop up on a chair and fill the jar with candies. Once the jar was full A noticed she left one out of the container and on the table. Instantly she unwrapped it within moments and shoved it in her mouth, her face lit up and she was proud of quite herself. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the big grin and mouth full she had, and I know her Great-Great Grandmas were getting a laugh because she loves them just as much as they did.
Autumn feels a little cozier this year, and I think we’ve got ourselves a new tradition around here.
