Doesn't that title just make you wrinkle your forehead as if to say . . . what the heck??!!! I love that shock factor, but believe it or not, there is a tender story that goes along side of this title.
I had the good pleasure to spend a great deal of time learning from and loving on my "Big Gramma". She was my father's mother and lived near us. My mother's mom was my "Tiny Gramma", and I was able to spend much time with her as a very little girl until I was about 3 when she moved to CA due to health reasons. She passed when I was 11, and so my experiences with her were much less frequent, but no less impressionable. I can't wait to write some of my memories about Tiny Gram. But today, today we are gonna remember Big Gram . . . .
When I was about 8 my mom severed her tendons in her ankles, and was laid up for weeks (oh mom, I feel your pain now!). My grandparents came to our house every day to take care of us kids. Grampa took us to school, and did any of the running needed. Gram did the cleaning and cooking and laundry for us. It was a particular memory that stands out above all others, and I'm assuming thats because it was a short window into our little lives that was just different. Mom and dad did all those things every single day and we considered it just life. They did a good job, and this litle window we were given didn't downplay what our parents did on a daily basis, but gave us like a little vacation right in our own home and it was delightful!!!
Each day Gram would make us dinner and then she would get us ready for bed, and then . . . . and THEN - she and Grampa would stand in the hallway between my siblings bedroom and mine, and they would sing and dance us to sleep. Gram was a big lady and she wore housedresses with aprons, bobbie socks and tennies, and . . . pettie pants. Many young people don't have a clue what pettie pants are - so here's a good description. They were underwear that were like a girly foo foo boxer. They came down the leg at different length and had ruffles around the leg. They were nylon and came in a plethora of color. Gram liked the longer ones, and so as they danced she would lift her dress so the ruffles of the pettie pants showed, and they would sing together this: "You go home and get your panties, I'll go home and get my scanties, and away we'll go. Off we're gonna shuffle, shuffle off to Buffalo!" Oh how we would laugh, and when I close my eyes I can hear them singing and dancing, and I can hear Gram's little giggle that I loved so much. When they were done, they would tuck us in and kiss us goodnight. I remember going to sleep every night with a smile on my face!
Last year I spent a few days at my son's house with the grands. One of the things that my grands and I like to do together is sing songs - silly ones. One morning Emma and I were laying in bed singing our silly songs, and I introduced her to my Gram. I shared Shuffle off to Buffalo with her. She laughed and laughed and laughed. I pulled up the actual song from the 50's and played it for her on the computer - which made her laugh more. She loved it!!! I felt somewhat like I had introduced two generations to each other - it was somewhat surreal, but a moment I'll cherish! Shuffle had been entered in to our arsenal of favorite crazy songs to sing.
A few nights ago, Emma called. We talked a few minutes and sometimes I can tell when she's a little melancholy. Their move back to Iowa has been a challenge for us as we were used to seeing those grands almost weekly. We have all tried to adjust to the long distance relationship, but sometimes its just hard. After a short while, Emma whispered into the phone, "Nana will you sing with me?" I said, "oh sure Em, what do you want to sing?" She whispers, "Shuffle", and giggles. So, over the phone lines I began to sing and she quietly joined me. The tears welled up and I choked out the song. Memories flooded me. Memories of Gram and her pettie pants, and memories of just a short year ago, hugging and snuggling and laughing with my granddaughter making new memories of one that was paramount almost a half a century ago. It was truly a bittersweet moment.
What I've learned?
God gives us moments in our lifetime to savor. Things that may be very simple, so simple we may have a tendancy to overlook or take for granted. We don't know when life is gonna turn upside down and those opportunities to make memories will vanish. Time passes so quickly, and it is so easy to get caught up in things that have no eternal value, and very little earthly value for that matter. Singing silly songs doesn't really evoke a spiritual lesson, and not everything does. But those earthly lessons that dig down deep into my soul creating and defining my person, lends to my recognition of my sheer and utter dependence upon my God. Dependence on Him for carrying me through grief. Dependence on Him for carrying me through fear. Dependence on Him to see to it my very needs are met, no matter how small - no matter how big. He is faithful. Faithful not just in "spiritual" things, but faithful to create these little things like songs, and laughter, and love - that truly show me that He cares about me even in the details of life. God is so good, He is so good . . . .
to me.
I love you Gram. I love you Emma.
No comments:
Post a Comment