COINTEST: Grandmas

[+anne.and.eli]

Hi all, it's time for a cointest. I got a ton of coins at GCF and I'm sure I have something in here that's appropriate for a gift. I don't know what it is yet, as we are waiting for our plane to return to California. So it will be a surprise for everyone involved!

 

Cointest rules:

You have a CHOICE

1. Post a favorite memory of your grandma.

2. Post your favorite historical event that has happened since 1918.

 

Winner will be chosen randomly sometime this weekend.

 

This cointest is in memory of my wonderful grandmother who passed away last night. She was 91 years old. She was the nicest, most selfless woman I have ever met, and I am lucky to have had her in my life. I was saddened that we were on vacation while she was in the hospital for her last days, but we visited Canyon de Chelly which is one of her favorite places, and I know it made her happy that we got to see it.

 

So to honor her amazing life and wonderful gifts, it seemed appropriate to give something back to this selfless community.

 

Please don't feel the need to express sympathy! I'd rather hear about your grandmothers and memories now.

 

-Anne

 

[Edit: I just remembered I got a "dark" tranquility coin this weekend, the dark blue, red and yellow version. Given how treasured the tranquility coins are, and how treasured my grandma was, that seems an appropriate reward for this cointest. ]

 

I look forward to reading your stories!

Edited October 12, 2009 by anne.and.eli

[+anne.and.eli]

Our plane has been delayed so I had time to look up a photo and everything!

 

This is what you're playing for:

 

 

It looks silver, but I'm pretty sure the version I have is gold.

Edited October 12, 2009 by anne.and.eli

[+tsunrisebey]

My sympathies to you and your family. Not entering the cointest. Have a safe trip home.

 

tsun

[+anne.and.eli]

My sympathies to you and your family. Not entering the cointest. Have a safe trip home.

 

tsun

 

Really, no sympathies! This is a celebration of her life. I will however, try to have a safe trip home!

[+anne.and.eli]

Thank you for your thoughts, as well, tsun. It was awesome meeting you this weekend, and I look forward to rushing your table more in the future!

[+fairyhoney]

I am sorry about your loss. Grandmas are VERY precious people.

I had 2 Grandmas (as with most), my Grandma Pearl ( from my Dad) and my Grandma ( from my Mom). I am going to tell you about my Grandma.

My Grandma was always the nicest person. While I lived in Seattle as a young girl, we would go to my Grandma and Grandpa over in Port Orchard, WA to spend our Sundays. Grandma Always had room for ALL the family as it was great being able to know my cousins. She also had the smell of yeast rolls rising from her wood stove. That is a special memory.

[+fairyhoney]

P.S. I wish I met you this past Saturday.

[+GATOULIS]

Oh! I am so sorry for the loss of your grandmother my dear Anne!

My deepest condolences!!!

 

that's a great cointest!!!! And the coin is fantastic!!!

 

My favorite memory of my grandmother..... well... what can I write???

 

My grandmother (mother of my father) died before I was born!

My other grandmother (mother of my mother), lived in an other island, in Leros! We were going to the island when we could but it was not very often!

 

My favorite memory of my grandmother was actually... the last time I saw her!!! It was the first time I was going to the island alone! I spent about 10 days... if I remember correct and they were so great!!! It was a good time to talk with my grandmother, have some fun.... she was such a great person, such a great mother and grandmother!!! she was always there to see if we were ok, if we had any problems....

 

I remember that while we were eating, I made a joke and took without seeing me, an empty bottle of ouzo and filled it with water! I left the bottle on the table and after some time I took the bottle and said.. "nice ouzo... shall I drink a little?" and started drinking from the bottle!

 

she was so worried and tried to take the bottle away from me... I was too young... when we all laughed and explained that it was just water! She laughed so much!!!

 

I was her only grandson and I my name was taken after the man she loved so much... my grandfather! So, she loved me even more!!!

 

The last day of me in Leros, the day I had to go back, and while I was kissing her for goodbye, I told her that she was so great and I had a great time, but with tears in her eyes, she told methat this was the last time to see her alive! I was mad and told her not to say that again! I was going again next year to see her....

 

Unfortunatelly she was right! this was the last time I saw her! She died!

I was so sad about it! I was so sad becasue I got angry with her when she mentioned that...

 

I wish I had more time with her but sometimes life is not fair enough... but I feel very happy and blessed becasue I had the chance to know her!! she was a treasure! A treasure I lost when she died but this treasure will always be with me...in my heart, in my mind.....

 

I love you grandmother!

 

....

....

....

 

How many posts can you post??????????????

Shall I post again after some time for the other choise too???

[paganfrog]

im sorry to hear of your sad loss, long may your happy memories of her last.

 

my nan was my mums mother, and she lived with us like forever. i loved her very much and loved to be around her from a very young age. some of my earliest memories of her were set in the garden. she was a very keen gardener and loved to potter about planting new plants or messing around in the greenhouse sowing trays of flower seeds to tend to before they got planted outside.

i used to be her shadow, and as she was walking around with a large watering can, i would follow with a mini watering can watering the bits she may or may not have missed. she used to suffer from arthritis and every now and then would pause and exclaim oh dear while rubbing her back of her hands, i would again follow behind her mirroring her actions. it used to make her laugh.

before i had learnt to read, she used to read me an afternoon story when it was my nap time, when i got a little older she started to teach me to read and encouraged me to go with her to the local library, i loved this weekly walk to the library with her, and used to spend ages picking out 4 books to take home with me.

nan also taught me how to play several traditional boardgames and other simple games, and on regular occasions i used to harrass her to play scrabble, noughts and crosses, snap or many other games she taught me. she used to sigh and put down her newspaper- (she used to love completing the daily crossword puzzle inside) and always gave me time and attentions and would play the game of my choice, often playing it numerous times in a session, before she patiently told me she had had enough and wanted to read her paper or something else she had plans on.

when i got older and into my teens, i would get rude to my parents but would always have the highest respect towards my nan, she wasnt a strict or stern grandparent, my respect was because i loved her very much.

i was 15years old when my nan passed away, she died at the fantastic ages of 82 after fighting cancer for a long long time. she gave that mean old big-C a right old battering for almost two decades. it finally got the better of her when she broke her arm, and a month after that she passed away when it got into her bones.

i still miss her deeply even now and im in my 30s. i have moved away from my childhood town but when i do go back there to visit family, i like to go visit my nan also, and have a quiet chat and tell her about this and that.

i like to think that shes up there watching over us. she would have been proud on being a great grandma to 6 grandchildren (she only met the first 2) but im sure she is watching, and probably laughing at me. i was always a bit of a live wire and drove my poor parents crazy with my antics and misbehaving, and my first son is now of the age that we can see he is following in my footsteps. so now i know what i put my parents and nan through lol.

 

i miss you nan.

[+murphyrulez]

My favorite memory of my grandma was whenever we would spend the night, we could always count on waking up to the smell of eggs and bacon... Mmmmmm bacon. Oh and watching her wash clothes in an old fashioned washer you had to agitate with a foot pedal, and then wring the clothes dry by cranking on a lever and squeezing the clothes through 2 rollers... To be young again...

 

[+Ashallond]

I'm still lucky as both of my grandmothers are still alive.

 

I guess the best memory of my grandmother was when I was left alone with anothe rkid at her house one time we were playing basketball...but didn't have a hoop, so we decided that the top step that lead to the door into the house from the carport was the basket.

 

Silly me didn't think about the ball bouncing off the concrete, and hitting the glass on the screen door and breaking it.

 

>.>

 

For some reason I left with the other kid (I think the parent of the kid came to pick us up.?) I knew I was dead when my parents got back to my grandparents house, but when I got back the glass was crack free.

 

Slowly I walked in, and after a few inquiries and confessions, she told me that she found it, and was wanting to replace that door anyway, so I gave her a good reason to go ahead and do so.

 

[+SYOTT]

First off, I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother... never easy having anyone pass away...

 

My favorite memory of my grandmother is surprising her... I was in town for a night on my way back home from the Arabian Gulf in 2003... I arranged to spend the night there before shipping out back home to Halifax the next morning... little did my grandmother know was that my mother arranged to come out the same day (as she was sailing back with me)... All of us knew except for her... mom rang the doorbell and we get my grandmother to answer it... she just stared at her daughter in disbelief and didn't say a word... she just started to cry and then hug her... and call everyone that knew a few choice words for keeping this a secret...

 

That's one of my favorite memories of my grandmother

[+goosefraba1]

I have a lot of fond memories with my grandma. My favorie one recently was last year when I told her that I am getting married. I was pretty busy between fulltime school and full time work. After I got engaged I took my fiance out to my grandma's to surprise her. When we pulled in, my grandpa was walking out of the garage. He looked at me and bluntly said, "We figured you would be here".

I was like "how did you know".

He laughed, "we have our ways".

 

So... we went inside to find my grandma setting the table. She had made my favorite dinner of Stuffed Peppers (they are kind of like meatloaf... but with rice and spicy sauce in a pepper). They had no idea that we were coming over. We sat down and started eating. We talked about school... work... and family stuff. The whole time Ashley was sitting there talking too with her new ring on. Finally, my grandpa saw it and asked, "did you get that out of a quarter machine or what?"

 

Ashley's face got red... I started laughing... grandpa was confused... and my grandma started crying. That was a pretty good night. Probably one of my favorite memories.

[+labrat_wr]

Death can be tragic, but in your Grandma's case, it appears that it was the completion of a very full life and therefore a reason to celebrate her life.

 

My memory is of my Nana (my Dad's Mom). A very robust woman who, from what I can remember, always had a smile on her face. She would sit and listen to us kids tell her of our adventures and stories, and when we were done, she would respond in her jovial way "Well, I should say so!" She would always listen, and not brush us off. She made us feel that what we had to say was important. That was all we wanted, to be listened to.

 

I'm not much of a History fanatic, but one thing I guess would be on my list comes from the sports page.

Super Bowl I: Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs Score: 35-10 in 1967 (the year of my birth).

 

thanks for the cointest and the opportunity to remember.

[+Chickahominy]

Dearest Anne, My thoughts are with you at this time. Grandmothers are very special.

 

I didn't know my mother's mother, but I did know my dad's mom. She and Grandfather lived next door to us in a little cottage for my formative years. I would go to visit Grandmere every day after school. She taught me a lot about gardening, making meringue baskets, prayer and being a lady. Grandmere, nee Molly, wore hose and a dress everyday. When she "went to town," she would put on gloves, a hat and carry a matching purse. She loved Colonial Williamsburg... one of the reasons my daughter went there for college. She had wonderful stories to tell, as her father was in charge of laying the railroad in Texas and New Mexico. Her early years were spent in El Paso. When she was 7 years old, she bought herself a burro for a nickel! My grandmother was the light of her husband's life. He treated her like a queen. I miss her so much but know that she is one of my guardian angels.

[+hollora]

My sincere condolsences on the loss of your grandmother. Oh, I remember the pangs and hurt when mine passeed. So here is my memory.

 

My Grandmother was 90+ years old, too, when she passed and I was 27 years old and pregnant with my second child (Rebecca - "Francis Family"). Gram had already predicted I would have a girl - with blue eyes and fair hair. She was quite right.

 

My grandmother was a tough lady. Her husband died in 1950, but, she maintained the farm they owned and kept the hired men employed. She lived until 1976 and a full life indeed!

 

My grandmother was the best - cooking on a wood stove her whole life - and she taught me - challenge anyone? I can fry donuts with the best of you and cook beans to die for.........regretfully that old stove I learned on and used for many years stayed with the house we sold in 2002.

 

Ganga, aka Grandmother, made the best stuff for me to take back to college every weekend (molasses cookies, yeast rolls with raisins, cinnamon, and icing, chocolate chip cookies, and more)...........and she was always ready to have my friends in her home. From a sliding party to whatever. I have the fondest memories of my Gram who lived less than a mile up the street, on a 90 acre farm with a pond, a great sliding hill and just a ton of love. Ganga was what I called her and thanks for the time to relive the memories!

 

Thanks for the cointest too!

[+pumpkinking27]

A favorite memory of my grandmother is when she would come down to my house during the holidays, and stay over for a few days...(her husband passed away before I was born, so I never knew him). But I would love when she would come down during christmas, thanksgiving, and any other time of the year that she came for a few days....I would wake up in the morning, and hear her in the kitchen, talking with my mom...I would just lay in bed for a little while, and listen to them talk..I knew they were making raisin bread. everytime she would come down, she would make her family favorite raisin bread. I waited until I could smell it in the oven to go out into the kitchen, and start the day with her, and the raisin bread. Just the memories I have of her, being there when I would wake up, with a fresh warm piece of raisin bread sits in my mind, and will always be something i will never forget. R.I.P mam mam I love you.

[+sweetlife]

Hi all, it's time for a cointest. I got a ton of coins at GCF and I'm sure I have something in here that's appropriate for a gift. I don't know what it is yet, as we are waiting for our plane to return to California. So it will be a surprise for everyone involved!

 

Cointest rules:

You have a CHOICE

1. Post a favorite memory of your grandma.

2. Post your favorite historical event that has happened since 1918.

 

Winner will be chosen randomly sometime this weekend.

 

This cointest is in memory of my wonderful grandmother who passed away last night. She was 91 years old. She was the nicest, most selfless woman I have ever met, and I am lucky to have had her in my life. I was saddened that we were on vacation while she was in the hospital for her last days, but we visited Canyon de Chelly which is one of her favorite places, and I know it made her happy that we got to see it.

 

So to honor her amazing life and wonderful gifts, it seemed appropriate to give something back to this selfless community.

 

Please don't feel the need to express sympathy! I'd rather hear about your grandmothers and memories now.

 

-Anne

 

[Edit: I just remembered I got a "dark" tranquility coin this weekend, the dark blue, red and yellow version. Given how treasured the tranquility coins are, and how treasured my grandma was, that seems an appropriate reward for this cointest. ]

 

I look forward to reading your stories!

I have got to say I am so So Sorry about your Grandma Passing. This is so weird, I just talked this morning about my Best Friend/Grandma this morning in the Thanksgiving memory.

[+CUTT4]

My thoughts are with you at this time.

 

My grandmother on my mother's side passed away before I was born. I am luck in that I still have my grandmother on my father's side. She lives one neighborhood away from where I grew up, and I know I don't see her as much as I should. There are so many memories of her: going on vacations together, holidays, every day events, gardening, ect...

 

Grandma loved gardening. She can't get out the house as much as she use to so now she grows plants instead of her huge veggie garden. She is the woman who taught me to cross-stitch and other crafts. She began my addiction to puzzles. But most importantly she engaged my imagination with wonderful stories. Stories about her childhood, meeting and marrying my grandfather, and fairytales. Everything was fair game to be used.

 

I think my favorite memory is of her telling my how she and my grandfather met, which I ask her to retell often. The most recent occasion, we were sitting and having dinner, while waiting for her meeting to begin. I asked her to tell the story and her entire face lit up. My grandfather died in 93' and they had been married for 40+ years. She moved to our town from her hometown due to a job she had gotten at the local bank. She ended up living with a co-workers family and my grandfather was her brother. At this time my grandfather was in the NAVY and it was WWII. Every member of the household would take turns talking to him when he called, and one day the phone was handed to my grandmother. She was told to talk to him while another child was fetched to the phone. It was the first time my grandmother ever talked to him. About six months later my grandfather came home, and everyone had gone to the train station to meet him. Now comes my grandmother's favoite part of the story. They were all standing in a line waiting to greet him when he came up from behind them! One by one he went down the line giving everyone a kiss. When he got to my grandmother ... he kissed her to! It was the first time she had ever met my grandfather. According to her about six months later they were married!

 

I remember their house being a place of love and laughter. I have very few actual memories of my grandfather, but he lives on through family stories and pictures. My grandmother never misses a chance to tell us about him, and she get this look that is so hard to describe. She gets this far away look and at times giggles like a school girl as she tells of some antic my grandfather did. Grandma is also the type of grandmother that is so proud of her family, and tells everyone she knows how we're doing. I am lucky in that I still have time to create more memories with her.

[+DJ.J.ROCK]

my grandmas were very different from one another,, my moms mom, was very strict and angry most of the time , she had 16 kids so what can you expect, and i only saw her about once a year on christmas she was very old fashioned and my best memory with her was one time during a christmas day at her house she pushed me around in a wheel barrow, even tho it just about killed her, and even tho it was too much for her she kept doing it, i remember her having to sit down the rest of the day because it was so tiring for her to do. even tho she was angry alot she still loved us kids!! but i wasent very close with her.

heres a pic of my grandma on my moms side, i dug this up to share with you all.

my grandma on my dads side was the best grandma ever!! she was what alot of people call a soil me grandma, she would come for sleep overs and alllllllways bring me a new toy. and would go to her house and she would let me do anything i wanted, because she loved me sooo much!! i remember one time we went to the mall and i really wanted this rap tape(this was before cds were made)anyway i really wanted this rap tape,, it was bone thugs and harmoney, she bought it for me. and when we got back to her house she dug up an old tape player, so i could listin to it.,,now the funniest thing about it was my grandma was very relgious, she said her roserie every night and went to church 2-4 times a week , she was catholic and did the eating of crist and confessed her sins every week. so anyway im listining to this bone tape and its just devil stuff and cuss word after cuss word, as i danced and sung along she sat about 50 ft away watching tv pretending not to hear it. the only reason she dident take the tape away (i think ) is because she saw how much fun i was having ,and she loved me soooo much she did not want to upset me by taking it away. i swear she sat there and never said a word or gave me the look while this devils music was playing in her house of god. i dident know any better then but now looking back on it she was a saint.

one year as a child i wanted to start going to martial arts. she paid for every penny and dime, from my uniform to my sparring pads and gear and it wasent cheep , she took alot of pride and when i got my black belt for the kids class many years later i invited her, during the ceremony and was awarded a medal of honor, and that was a very big deal. she was so proud of me and that kept me going,, now 18 yrs later im still involved in various martial arts including ninpo (a jap. martial arts), and jujitsu (a grappiling and submission martial arts) and i still have my metal that reminds me of who i am and why im here,, my grandma had alot to do with that.

after my dad passed and my brothers passed i think it was too much for her and she passed. i miss her very much and wish she could have been around to see how far ive came. shes the only person in this world i ever cared to make proud. i miss you grandma.!!!

heres a pic of a very proud grandma, i was so proud to make her feel that way!!

p.s. my mom is the one with an afro

[+jbears22]

Well I have never participated in one of these, but when I read the posting about your grandma and the celebration of life I couldn't help but think of my own grandma....

 

My Grandma Stephens (my mom's mom) was a special lady, as are all grandmas, but she didn't really like to go outside with us much and left most of the playing to my grandpa. We would often play hide the button around the house because she could do this while reading her books, or heaven forbid, watching her stories (the soaps). Eventually, my grandma was diagnosed with alzheimer's. We started noticing something was wrong, but the alzheimer's didn't truly surface until after one of her later surgeries. It was very difficult for all of us because in her mind she was much younger and my mother was not even born yet, let alone me and my brothers. It became very difficult for my mom to visit her in the home, especially without my grandpa there to support her. One of the last memories I have of my grandma is all of us visiting her. She often referred to me as Jennifer. My mother told her, "No, this is Jessa- your grandaughter and she got As and Bs in school this semester." My grandma nodded and smiled and we weren't sure if she had followed what my mother had said. Later, another gentleman in the alzheimer's ward passed by and my grandma says "Hey, you there. This is my grandaughter and she got all As!" She then leaned over to me and whispers, "It is ok if we fudge a little." Although I have many memories of my grandma when she was well, this one sticks out in my mind as one of the last fun times we had together.

[+anne.and.eli]

I'm loving these stories, everyone, thank you for sharing!!

 

Thank you as well for the kind thoughts.

 

@fairyhoney - I didn't get a chance to meet you, but I "whooped" when you won some of the raffle loot!!

[+Just a Trifle]

Unfortunately, I only had one grandma and she lived a very long way from me. I do remember how soft she felt when she hugged me on the few occassions we could visit and the smell of something special in her house. I'm sure all Grandmas feel soft and are special. Your Grandma was certainly special to you and she will always be in your heart.

Edited October 14, 2009 by Just a Trifle

[+kini_ont]

Anne this is a wonderful way to celebrate a life of someone so close to you, thank you.

 

I wasn’t able to know both sets of grandparents in fact I only knew one and that was my mother’s mom. In polish we called her “Babcia” she was a strong woman oh not in body for when she arrived in Canada she would have been in her late 60’s small and frail. She also did not speak a word of English and very unfortunately I did not speak polish so communication was often broken words, hand gestures and what I loved, touch. She would place a hand so soft and caring on your arm or shoulder and for an eight year old who had recently lost a father, it was healing touch.

 

She was not in Canada long so my time with her was short but we did do walks through the apple orchard we had and those are the most wonderful memories I have of her. Just on a lighter side, I had in the early years suffered from what I refer to a spoiled stomach (not feeling well at all) and the doctors didn’t have anything for it (they thought it was physiological) anyway to shorten the story, Babcia one evening when I was not feeling well gave me a teaspoon of sugar and medicine (alcohol). Well that did the trick I’ll say, mom never knew about my treatments but I certainly was glad to take it when ever she offered

 

She was with us for a year and a half but wanted to return to her homeland where she passed away shortly after, it wasn’t till after that, mom started telling me stories of Babcia and how as a young lady had joined the gypsies and travelled all around Europe, wish I had heard those stories from her.

[Maine Family]

Grandma's are special. Both my grandmothers have passed away but they aren't gone because I carry some of both of them with me. They both were hard working women but always had time for her family. Nothing was more important than family. I am proud to be like my grandmothers. One grandmother always had words of wisdom and when I am struggling with something one of her words of wisdom pops into my head to help me through.

Now I am a grandmother. My grandson calls me Nana, and I am building a special bond with him. I learned how to be a grandmother from two special grandmothers so I will pass some of them down to my grandson.

 

May you find comfort in the memories of your grandma. That is how I learned to smile and laugh again.

[+forthferalz]

Thanks for a chance to get to know everyone a bit more through shared memories!

 

I only had on living Grandma = PoPo. She lived so far away and visiting her was always such an EVENT - in those days it was rare to get on a plane and flying children were feted like royalty

 

Like many grandmas she had been very strict with her own children and also herself having lived through a depression and a war but really made me feel like a princess before the term became trendy. Everything I did or said was lavishly praised, not an ounce of criticism. It was already quite overwhelming for a small child to be greeted with a Grandma who spoke a strange language, servants in the house, monkeys in the garden, then trips to get party dresses, boxes and jars of special food like coconut jam she had squirreled away just for me, a life sized walking talking doll ( so it was actually taller than my younger sister!) and draped me in heavy jewelry of 24 carat gold which she insisted I wear out to dinner. I'm sure my mother was petrified I was going to lose it.

 

I didn't really make sense of all this until I visited her for the last time with my own sons. At the time I'm sure all the attention just gave me a big head! She was trying to stuff everything she felt into brief visits and caring for me years down the track, grown and heading into an uncertain world - the jewelery a gift against hard times like she had known. By then she was blind from cataract and had to feel their faces. So I had to open the fridge and get out the special treats under her instructions and got a shock - I think she had saved most of the boxes of chocolates we brought her from Australia! they were taking up half the fridge space - each one representing years between visits. I know they were old because there were varieties that are out of production!

[+Six Little Spookies]

What lot of fun memories!

 

Mine is about my father's mother, who I am told, when my father was little, would take after him and his brothers with a broom when she caught them misbehaving.

 

A few years before she died, we were all sitting around at a family reunion with my father and uncles telling stories about what they'd done as kids. All of a sudden my grandma stood up and started to walk out. When asked why she was leaving she replied, "I didn't know what you boys were up to then and I don't want to know now!"

[+SgtMikal]

Great idea for a cointest! Being a genealogy buff, I always appreciate the remembrances of relatives from the past. Hearing the stories, reading about what life was like back then - those types of things always intrigue me. I never liked history in school, until I started discovering my OWN history.

 

My mom's mom was a very special lady. She passed away 17 years ago. During the end of her time with us, she was in a nursing home, but always found a way to find somehting to enjoy. She was a devoted Phillies fan, so whenever we went to visit her, if they were playing, the game was on TV. One other thing that she used to love was looking out the window at nature. As my mom and I were on our way to visit her, we would try to guess how long it would take before she made her first comment about the trees outside. We would try to guess how many times she would comment on how amazing and beautiful they were.

 

What a lovely woman she was. She was the youngest of 17 kids, but only had 2 of her own. Her husband was a professional baseball player, but gave that up early in his life. He died before I was born.

 

Thanx again for the cointest.

[ATMouse]

My grandmother was rather stern and strict. Not unloving, no, no, but with eighteen active grandchildren, she was a quick to give us a thump on the nogin with her thimble (ouch!). She was a great seamstress and loved to embroider and made many wonderful items for us children.

 

My best friend was a dog (yes, really) who belonged to our neighbors across the street. Pixie was just a mutt, but I loved her...and my grandmother noticed. She designed an embroidered outline of a dog that looked just like Pixie and stitched it onto this wonderful sleeping gown, all thick, soft flannel that fit me perfectly! (I am one of six children - I grew up in hand-me-downs. Having something made for me ALWAYS made me smile.)

 

Yeah, she could be quite the disciplinarian...but grandmother had seen and loved me enough to give me something I treasured.

 

I wore it until I both out-grew it and it was worn thin.

Edited October 16, 2009 by ATMouse

[+anne.and.eli]

I love these stories, everyone. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

I'm going to close this cointest tomorrow night (probably around 9pm pacific, depends on when I have some free time) and picking a winner.

 

Thanks everyone!

[+The Amigos]

I wish you many more happy memories of your Grandma to come (they WILL come out of nowhere, when you LEAST expect them, and they are great!). Embrace each memory, and don't forget to share them with your children when they happen!

 

I think that one of the funniest memories that I can think of just at this moment actually involved both my Mammaw and, later, my Mom, then my Sister.

 

I was probably about 10 or so, and just a smart little kid. You know, the smart one that can't be told ANYTHING! Well, my Mammaw and I were writing notes to each other, and I was trying my darnedest to top her. I was writing how I was THE prettiest girl ever, and I was the SMARTEST girl ever, and so on and so on. My Mammaw always had a great comeback to whatever I wrote. She was prettier because..., and she was smarter because...., etc. I NEVER did get the best of her! We ended up rolled up together on the couch, just laughing so hard. It was (and still is) such a great memory. We ended up crumpling those notes and throwing them in the trash.

 

Well, years later, after my Mammaw had passed away, and my Mom was in the hospital with Cancer, she told me that she something special put up for me in her "trunk" (you all know those trunks that have every paper your child EVER colored on), and she wanted me to be sure to look for it when the time came. I blew it off, thinking it had to have been something stupid I had done sometime in my life, and just plain forgot about it.

 

When my Mom passed from the Cancer, my Sister got the trunk. She called me, laughing, and said to come on over! There really wasn't all the stupid stuff I thought would be in there, but guess what WAS in there?

 

That very letter that my Mammaw and I had sat writing to each other that day. My Mom had sat back and watched us, and secretly laughed to herself. Then she dug that letter OUT of the trash, carefully pressed it flat, and put it away.

 

I now have that note, and it has a few tear marks on it, but NOTHING IN THIS WORLD MEANS AS MUCH TO ME AS THAT PIECE OF PAPER!!!!

 

(I should go dig it out and copy it on here for you all to laugh at!!)

 

You know, they are probably all three sitting up in Heaven, laughing at me as I share this story with you all!!!! (I have since lost my Sis to Cancer).

Edited October 17, 2009 by The Amigos

[lorca.nl]

ANNE i´m sorry for your lost but it are so great wordzzzzzzzzzz of you that you celebrate her life...........

 

i lost my grandma when i was a little girl so i don´t have real memoriezzzzzzz about her in fact i have only one memorie and i will never ever forget that memorie because with that memorie i fall a sleep each night and wake up every morning.............

a day before i did my communion my mam drive to Deurne and she pick up her mam and sister and they had a sleep over by uzzzzzzzzzzzz.................

i can remember that i was so nervouzzzzzzzz for my communion because i had to light the first candle by our pastor and the night before my grandma came sit on my bed and she hold me till i was falling a sleep...

the next day it was the big day my communion day and when we where sitting at the breakfast table my grandma stand up wolk to her room and she take a little box and she wolk to me sit down on her kneezzzzz by my chair and her wordzzzz where ( i will never forget them) HE WILL PROCTECT YOU FOR EVERY BAD DREAMZZZZZZZ HE WILL BE YOUR LITTLE PROTECTOR...........

i did´t understand what she meanzzzzzzz by it so i open the box and ther it was a CUTE LOVELY little MONKEY..................

i was so so in LOVE by it and i did´t wanna let it at home so after long tolk with mam she deside that she would hold my moneky FLAPS in the church..............

 

i did my communion when i was 8 yearzzzzzzz old and now 28 yearzzzzzz later i still sleep with my monkey Flaps...........

even when i go on holiday and it don´t matter where i go my Flapzzzzzzz is alwayzzzzzzz come with me and two yearzzzzz ago when i went to france Flapzzzzzz had a special place in the car ...........

jepp he was sitting in front so that he could see a little part of Europe to ..............

Flapzzzzzzzz is getting old now but he don´t care and i don´t to because he will stay with me each night till the day comezzzzzzzzz that we turn in angelzzzzzzzzz and we go reunite with my grandma ........

meet my monkey FLAPZZZZZZ...........

[+ydnarman]

Ok i tried the fast reply thing but I have no idea where in the cyber world it went so here goes a second shot.

 

One of my favorite memories of me and My G-ma is when "our" chair got a little to small and i told her She was getting to fat for me to sit with her. We used to sit in the chair and watch wrestling, she'd get fired up at the cheaters and I'd route for the masked men.

I'm sorry for your loss so after posting this i'm going to give my G-ma a call. Thanks for reminding me of a happier time and to keep my G-ma close.

[+anne.and.eli]

I put everyone who entered onto a list ordered by when you posted.

 

Then I went to random.org and asked for a random number between 1 and 24, and it came back with...

 

1!

 

Congrats fairyhoney! I will send you the tranquility coin on Monday. Please PM me your mailing info!

 

Thanks again everyone for sharing your great stories. I have so many wonderful memories of my grandma, she was a wonderful lady. We would visit often, but definitely every Easter and Christmas. She would always say that she didn't want anything for Christmas, so one year my brother wrapped up a rutabega for her!

 

I loved looking for easter eggs in her back yard, as she had a huge goldfish pond and a tortoise to play with while we looked! She also had a lemon tree and she made the best lemonade from the fresh lemons.

 

There were many times I would visit my family and the women (mom, aunt, grandma and myself) would go to the front room and break out our cross-stitch and crafts to work on while we chatted.

 

So many great memories, and I feel her presence with me, still.

[+The Amigos]

I want some Lemonade!!!! lol. That does sound good, though.

[ATMouse]

Fairyhoney's story with the smell of yeast rolls in a wood oven....yummmmmmmm!

 

Congrats on the Tranquility Geocoin!!

 

Thanks for the fun cointest!

[paganfrog]

congrats on winning the tranquility fairyhoney. and thanks for allowing our memories of our grans in this wonderful cointest anne and eli

[+Six Little Spookies]

Congratulations fairyhoney!

 

Great stories from all. I had a good time reading them, and a few of them brought a tear to my eye. Grandmas sure are special persons.

[+fairyhoney]

Thank You , my coin came in the mail today Thank You, thank you , thank you . . . ! The following are 2 pictures that I could find of MY Grandma . . .

 

 

and later with Josh:

 

Let me add a little about her. She never learned how to drive. When I got older, I remember the joke about Grandma was that she would call all her daughters in the morning to see who was going the farthest ( all 4 daughters live around her)

[+fairyhoney]

 

Flapzzzzzzzz is getting old now but he don´t care and i don´t to because he will stay with me each night till the day comezzzzzzzzz that we turn in angelzzzzzzzzz and we go reunite with my grandma ........

meet my monkey FLAPZZZZZZ...........

 

THANK You for sharing your FLAPZZZZZZ and your Grandma with us, Anne ans well as Everybody else

Great cointest . Grandparents usually ARE very special people but they usually stick around for our kids to get to know them, I was LUCKY that all 3 of my kids got to meet my Grandma whom died May 24, 1993.

[+bittsen]

Having only been able to visit with my Grandma for about 4 years (total) of my life, I don't have too many stories that I can tell. I only saw my Grandma a couple of times past 5 years old but I have 3 good, life changing memories.

 

The one I will share is brief.

 

I was early with losing my baby teeth and had my first one hanging pretty loose. It was, of course, one of my front teeth. My parents had gone to my grandmas house to drop off my sisters and I so they could have some time away from us (It sounds horrible but it is what it was). At that point I hadn't seen my grandma for a few weeks and I was really proud that I had the loose tooth. I said something like "Hey gramma, look. My tooth is loose" to which she sinply replied, "Yes, it sure is. Come here and let me look at it". I showed her how loose it was and she said "Can I feel it wiggle?" and of course I let her but she was who she was, a no-nonsense person. She reached her hand out, grabbed my tooth and yanked it right out.

 

So, there I was, crying, bleeding and crying some more. Grandma just smiled and said something like "It won't hurt in a minute" and she was right. Before that it was hurting all the time.

 

She taught me a brilliant lesson. Sometimes you just have to "Suck it up!" and take the pain if you want things to get things over with. She also taught me to never let Grandma see a wiggly tooth.

 

P.S. I didn't write this for the contest. I just thought I would share.

Edited October 28, 2009 by bittsen

[+Eartha]

Cointest ended, thank you for sharing. Closing now.