Remembering Grandma

Flashback Friday

Memories of Grandma White

Grandma was Irish. She was born on March 25, 1918. In honor of St. Patrick's Day and her birthday, today I thought I'd record some of my memories of Grandma White. (Unlike Lachelle, I remember a very active and busy grandma!)

My first memories are of helping my mom help Grandma clean her house! How's that for a memory? But it was fun. I remember emptying and reorganizing kitchen cupboards. I remember pulling weeds in "no-man's land" in the side yard where they kept their boat. I particularly remember Aunt Cheri's "built-in" closet, with drawers along the bottom. When cleaning that out (she must have gone to college or something), my sister and I found a paper/plastic theater toy. I remember playing "Showboat" and "Oklahoma!" I'm guessing it was something like this:

When the chores were done we could have fun! Some days we'd gather all the grass clippings and organize an "outline house" and play house in the front yard. Other days we'd go swimming. (It was fun watching the progress as the pool was installed.) Sometimes we'd ride Grandma's fancy bike to the store. Since I remember both of us going, we must have taken turns sitting in the basket.

They lived for years in San Jose, California where Grandma worked as a school nurse. After retirement they moved to San Andreas - in California Gold Country. One summer Louise and I spent a month with them. Although we drove ourselves there, what I remember was walking, walking, walking. We had a great time exploring the small town. But it was HOT and we loved going back to Grandma's cool house.

The summer after my freshman year of college, I went with Grandma and Grandpa and Misti to participate in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. That was a great experience!

There are more memories - boating at the lake, holiday celebrations, my first can of wheat, introducing baby Weston to her, writing letters when she served a mission with Grandpa, even her funeral - but this is already too long so it's time to stop for now. I love my Grandma, and I know she loved me. It will be wonderful to visit and work (and maybe even play!) with her once again someday. Until then I'll just keep remembering.