YAHOO GRANDMA
By Scottie H. Freeman
 

It was Labor Day and Grandma's Birthday. Seventy-eight I was. Grandson tried to get me on the phone but got a busy signal. He figured I was in my chat room so he sent an instant message. I answered "come and bring those sweet babies". In the hour it took them to get here, I made a freezer of peach ice cream while Papa picked apples for a salad. 

I called other members of the family, who lived near, to come over. I sent Grandson and Papa to find White Pulled Pig. What is a gathering without Bar-b-que? Four generations gathered round the kitchen table and all talked at the same time. One daughter raced in from 70 miles away. Another (who teaches) and cousins came rushing in. With me hovering over them, (my way of nurturing is to feed) we caught up on all the news. 

We adjourned to the big screen porch which overlooks a swimming pool built in the middle of a cotton patch. We sat in rocking chairs and let the Great Grands hold forth. Will and the Yorkies sang their hearts out while Jack absorbed all the dirt he could. We hear distant gunshot. The dove hunters are doing their thing. Papa and Jeff talk baseball. We girls discuss baby-sitting arrangements. 

The family wandered thru the home they have always enjoyed. It smelled musty. (I told them I would dust if it ever rained) Dingy cut glass and tarnished silver bothered me not at all. There was the piano, abandoned for a keyboard. My quilting frames were replaced by an armoire filled with the latest computer. There were traces of CD's having been burned. My user names are posted on the wall. I am Giggles when I play Bridge. I laugh and say "they think I am a nineteen year old ditsy blond". Never try to get me when I am in my chat room. My Bible is on my bedside table. My Upper Room is on my pillow. My Social Security check is divided between my Church and Office Max. 

I speak lovingly of my parents. I try to interest them in genealogy. Papa and I have traveled all over the world, but we are content now to just be with family,. Our roots are here in this small town in the South. It is home. Our home is filled with family antiques that remind us of our heritage. Papa and I married on a Valentines Day, almost 60 years ago. Our life consists of Church, Coupons, Cadillac's, Home cooking and Friends, many of whom are in the nursing home now. My pride in my family surpasses anyone's imagination. My Father was born right after the Civil War. 

 I have many stories to tell. 

 I am GRANDMA