Grandparents

Grandparents are very special people … and have a very important role to play in a grandchild’s life.  They are warm and loving, caring and patient (well, at least most of the time), fun-loving and great teachers.  My grandparents are all gone now … but I think of them often.  I was closest to my grandparents on my dad’s side … but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t love ALL of my grandparents.  It just means that I got to know my dad’s parents better than I got to know my mom’s parents.  Sometimes I’ll see someone who reminds me of my grandparents … and at other times, I’ll hear something that my grandparents told me, or a phrase they used to use all the time – which brings them to mind.

Earlier this week, I was talking with a sales associate at a store, and we somehow got on the subject of tattoos.  He shared with me he has none (as do I) but that he plans to get only one.  Curious, I asked him what he planned to get, and his whole face lit up.  He proudly told me he was going to get a tattoo of his grandmother on his upper right arm.  He continued by telling me that she was a special lady … and was more of a mother to him than his own mom was.  He planned to get her name and the date of her birth and the date of her death … he just needed to save up enough money to get it.  I asked if he had recently lost his grandmother … and he replied, “no, she died 3 years ago … but I think of her all the time.”

After I left that store, I started to think about my grandparents … and how much I miss having them around to talk with, to pick their brains for their pearls of wisdom, and to simply run up to and give a big hug.  My grandparents may no longer be on this earth, but they are well rooted in my heart.  I’m so grateful to have those wonderful memories …

So … here’s a little tribute to my Nanna and Grandpa.  I miss you so….

“The House That Built Me”

I’m a big fan of Miranda Lambert’s new song titled “The House That Built Me“.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o&hd=1)  So, this weekend I had some time, and decided to take a ride to my hometown – the town I grew up in.  It is amazing to see how things change over the years.  The street I lived on is no exception.  There used to be an auto ‘junkyard’ just down the road on the opposite side of the street.  When I was a kid, it was somewhat hidden by a row of trees along the side of the road … that separated it from plain view.  After-all, it was somewhat of an eye-sore to look at.  Today, all of those trees are gone, and a simple fence separates the ‘junkyard’ from the road.  There is also a new housing development that is now across the street from my old house, rather than the wooded area that was once there … where we used to play ‘superheroes’ along with the other neighborhood kids … and the tree my mom planted has grown into a very large tree.  (It was only a few inches tall when we planted it.)

(c) Debi 2010

There are some things, however, that simply don’t change.  For example, the local hangouts – Clam Haven is still there and looks just the same as it did 25+ years ago.

(c) Debi 2010

Also, just down the street about a mile or so, the Lobster Claw II is still there, and still looks exactly the same.  I remember getting take-out with my parents and eating it while visiting when I’d stop by to see them after moving out of the house.  Ah, the memories!

(c) Debi 2010

As with a lot of families nowadays, mine is scattered across the country now.  A trip to visit family now requires vacation time and an airline flight, rather than a simple drive to a different town.  It also requires planning, rather than a simple ‘spur of the moment’ decision to stop by and say ‘hi’.

I’m so thankful for the memories that I have stored up in my mind.  Of those lazy hot summer days sitting on the porch, the drive to pick up some take-out from Lobster Claw II, and mostly the visiting that happened.  That was “The House That Built Me”!  I cherish the times I now spend with my family even more, as those experiences are much less frequent than they once used to be.  When I do see them, I make sure to have the camera in my minds eye rolling  – making more movies to replay in my mind.

(c) Debi 2010 - This is "the house that built me"

What memories do you have from “The House That Built” you?