SixFootBlonde's Grandparents & SixFoot...when she was only FourFoot
Some of my favorite memories growing up revolve
around the mirth and merriment of gathering at my grandmother's house
for Thanksgiving. Everyone would come, oft times thru the season's
first new-fallen snow. Her home was always so full of family...upwards
of eighteen of us in all, if memory serves.
Naturally, all the cousins couldn't resist stirring things up together:
one platoon of us upstairs creating a happy raucous in the spare
bedrooms, and the other "braver" troops delighted in exploring the
basement where there were shelves of dusty Ball jars lined with
Grandma's canning goods, cobwebs, dark corners, and other scary stuff.
It seems like we got hollered at a lot to "behave!"
As if!! :) Not as pumped up on adrenaline as kids get en masse; there
was no chance of behaving any time soon, what with all these partners
in crime we've not seen for a while!
I remember the men-folk clustering around the Lions football game on
the tv....all "fat and happy" after a bountiful dinner, and that
grandpa would predictably fall asleep in his recliner, quietly snoring
before the first quarter ended. During half-time there was always the
requisite guy "shop talk" about their jobs at Chevy, AC Spark Plug, and
Fisher Body on the assembly line, and What The Unions Needed To Do to
address some problem or other.
But the best part came when all our moms gathered with Grandma in the
dining room, discussing in whispered tones the kids' Christmas lists,
and who would be getting what from Santa. Then Grandma would get out
the scissors and cut up bits of paper, penning a cousin's name on each
scrap before dropping it into a deep bowl. Ahh, next would be the lotto
drawing for which aunt would be getting us a gift this year! The
sensory overload was just too delicious, and we giggled at this juicy
talk whilst mischievously spying and eavesdropping from the kitchen.
Somehow, we never got discovered!
What big fun in 1970, and a magical time to be a kid!
