Gram
My Grandparents were a wealth of Information to my young and curious mind. I must have driven them crazy at times wanting to know why and how. I never did figure out how my Gram always knew just when the right time was to plant potatoes and such things, and I hardly ever saw her use a recipe, she just knew all those things. She used to talk about the moon and it was the right time of the moon to plant, and then Gramp would fuss cuz he had to plant those potatoes on that certain day even if it was raining. She had the biggest and softest lap in the world and her very own Grandma smell, and I could cuddle there in the warm nest of her lap for hours and she would read or sing to me, I guess she made up some of those crazy songs I can remember the tunes but not the words anymore. She had one crazy chinese song that I loved and would beg her to sing but she would only do it when the mood struck her and then she would laugh and turn all pink cuz I would beg for more, and I guess if I had been expecially good or maybe the mood just struck her she would sing it again. I remember getting to sit in her lap while she played cards and she never told me to hush or sit still or go away and how important I felt, getting to sit there with the grown ups and sometimes even getting a sip of her coffee, or dunk a cookie in it. I wonder now how many cups of coffee she drank with the dredges of my cookies in the bottom.
I wasnt very big, as I remember, when the day came that I thought my world had come to an end. My gram had told me to something and I guess I was feeling big for my britches cuz I just popped open my mouth and told her to do it herself. She looked at me and then went and did what it was she had asked me to do. Well..... in her kitchen was this old bar stool I don't remember the color but I remember it was one of those old fashioned ones with the metal legs and the big soft seat that went around and around, and one of my favorite pastimes was layin on the stool belly down and turnin my self round and round. Needless to say there I was belly down - bottom up - goin round and round when gram returned and put her hand in the middle of my back and gave me a sound slap with her flyswatter right on bottom up. Lord you would have thought she had killed me ( I probably hardly felt it) but the fact that my gram had hit me was enough to make me want to die. I cried and cried and begged her I was sorry. She just said that she was sorry I had told her to go do it herself and that I best not be telling her that again, and I dont recall that I ever did.