We made our way up to Montana for a family reunion on my dad’s side. On the way we made a quick, very quick stop at my Grandma’s house. I hadn’t been to visit her in two years so it was nice to take Hallie for a visit. We only stayed one night but it was well worth it. My grandma just celebrated her 90th birthday in July and she’s still going. I remember when I was younger we’d make the drive once or twice a year to visit my mom’s parents. The drive seemed excruciating when I was younger, I remember hours and hours of endlessly winding roads as we made our way from Idaho to Montana following the river. The older I get, the shorter the distance seems to be, and the less windey the roads become. It’s a beautiful scenic drive- but the one thing I can’t handle about the drive are all the trees. I know, I’m crazy. But there is something about driving on a windey road with trees hovering and sunlight shining through sporadically that makes me ill. It’s as if a strobe light is continuously going off and it makes my eyes go batty. To add to the feeling of sickness, when we were younger we only had so many cassette tapes to listen to on our road trips. I associate these songs which we seemed to listen to over and over again with feeling sick driving these roads. And to this day, I don’t care for the music. Peter, Paul, and Mary for example…great people I’m sure, but at the sound of “Lemon Tree” my stomach turns, and “If I had a hammer” pushes me over the edge. It’s amazing the associations we make as people, especially as children when we’re so young that seem to stick with us forever!
As a kid, although it was fun to go visit grandma and grandpa, it always seemed like such long a trip. Looking back, they really weren’t that long, 5 or 6 days max. But I couldn’t understand why my mom would want to go for that long…flash forward 10 years as I make my annual trip home…much longer than 5 or 6 days! I dread the day when I feel as though I’m dragging my kids to do so, because to me it’s a great way to spend my time, being with my parents. I wish I could’ve realized that when I was younger and perhaps would have made it easier on my mom as she wanted to spend time with her mom. I understand that connection and longing now.I just want to write down a few thing, random as they may be, that will forever remind me of my Grandma:
Hummingbirds
Bird Clocks (the ones the sound off every hour with a different bird!)
Honey nut Cheerios
Huckleberries
Hiking/flower picking
Flavored mini marshmallows
Orange Julius
The silent, hunched over chuckle
Crossword Puzzles
TwisterGrandma with her youngest great grandchild – Kole