A Different Kind of Grandmother
Posted on Aug 02, 2022 by Laura Cooper
My parents were older when I was born. Therefore, only one grandparent was alive when I came into the world. I had the best grandmother in the world. She was an elderly woman. Small but mighty. She was grumpy and harsh sometimes, but that never affected me. She never spoiled me as a child. She could not afford to buy me things.
However, she made the not-so-fun things like naps incredibly fun. I could nap with her dogs on her porch with a fan blowing in my face. (My mother was not thrilled about the fan part.) We lived in Florida, and she did not have A/C. I could explore her house and find jars of old buttons and seashells to play with and about 50 decks of cards to build card houses with. She even had a piano that I could play as much as I wanted.
My grandmother was not the warm, fuzzy type, but she gave me wonderful memories. We hand-cranked laundry in her carport, as she never bought a real washing machine. We picked oranges, lemons, and bananas from trees and plants in her backyard. We drove around in her ‘57 Impala with the windows rolled down. She talked a lot about the history of Florida back in the 1930s and 1940s. In my mind she was the most interesting person I had ever known.
I am a grandmother now. I have a grandson. He will be 2 in December. I find myself very much like my grandmother — not exactly full of warmth, but full of information that he seems quite interested in. We try new foods. We spray the garden hose. We look at bugs and flowers and study worms. We walk up and down the porch steps about 100 times because that is super fun. I do not think I am meant to spoil him, necessarily. I think I am meant to pass along my knowledge of life as I know it.
I have read this verse in my Bible many times since becoming a grandparent:
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” (Deuteronomy 4:9)
We can teach our grandchildren about the world around us and how to love everyone just like Jesus taught us, too. We can teach them about God and how he created everything. We can also teach them how to conserve and protect the planet we live on. Our knowledge does not have to be fancy, just basic. It seems the simple things that we learn in life are what we keep closest to our hearts.
Laura Cooper
Salem Office Administrator