Memories of Grandma C

I truly have so many fond memories of my "Grandma C" as we referred to her. And most of them involve food so get ready for an extensive list :-)

- every holiday/event had a specific menu attached with it-
- when my cousins the Greenwoods came, we always had lasagne
- Thanksgiving was always turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams with pecans, pumpkin pie
- Christmas was always ham and funeral potatoes, along with the special 3 layer red, white, and green jello salad served on a piece of iceberg lettuce
- Easter was also ham and funeral potatoes
- general conference Sundays and other occasions were a roast with mashed potatoes and gravy
- Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day were all barbecue steak with baked beans and fresh homemade peach ice cream (it is still one of my all time favorites)
- hot rolls: these are truly some of the best I have ever had. She would also do cheese onion rolls and cinnamon raisin with glaze
- chocolate raisin pudding with fresh whipped cream
- banana pineapple slush
- date bars
- homemade chocolate chip walnut cookies- she would always give us a few to take home
- clam chip dip- my dad LOVED this dip and so my grandmother was always super protective of it to make sure that we didn't eat all of it when my dad was working late at the hospital
- we each received our own homemade gingerbread man with green frosting and sprinkles after every Thanksgiving dinner. We usually only waited a few hours before devouring it

My grandmother expressed her love for us through food. I know that she felt there was no better way to bond as a family than over a good, usually home cooked, meal. She loved a good deal and would buy the dented cans at Hubert's grocery store and then at Food World. My grandmother was so kind and always allowed me to bring several of my friends to Thanksgiving or other holidays.

Here are some partially non-food related memories.
- playing "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar"
- playing "the Hershey bar game" where we wrapped up hershey bars and then had to unwrap them with a knife and fork while being pressured to have it taken away by dice rolling cousins and aunts (7,11 or doubles made you lucky). Several people were knocked off their chairs during this game
- croquet- she loved to have us set up the wickets
- the summer sled, this sled that had wheels attached to it so we could ride around on it in good weather.
- 3001- the address of the house and farm where my grandparents spent most of their life. They had a barn, old cars, a ditch, and a huge field where we would have my Uncle Dana pull us with his truck on a winter sled.
- their dogs Oggie and Blondie. Blondie had puppies and I especially loved one that I called "Bean"
- watching films (the old school ones) of my mom and aunts/uncles playing in the haystack as kids
- my grandma and grandpa coming with us to Disneyland. We went to the freezing cold ice pool, I was so thirsty that I wanted a drink and my grandmother was drinking V8 and I had my first and last taste of it (it really is not a thirst quencher), my grandfather telling my sister Cynthia to stand tall so that we could all ride on Big Thunder together
- several times a year in the summers going to Standard Oil pool where they had 2 pools- a kiddie pool and a big pool with a slide. Afterwards, we ALWAYS went to Crown Burger and got Orange Bangs (until they got rid of them)
- my cousin Clint's blessing where my grandfather accidentally got his name wrong- "Clinton GEORGE" and my grandmother lets out an "Oh Geeze"
- watching a Miss America pageant where my grandmother commented that they were all "plain Jane's" and that she was much better looking than they were
- her helping me plan my wedding by suggesting that we have the dinner at Grand America and then get the flowers from Mildred's (which we did and they were lovely)
- her "saving her strength" in the later years to go to Grand America for her birthday lunch and then the Marriott for Thanksgiving
- going sometimes with my mom to visit Grandma on Sundays at 4:30
- our last in person visit after her birthday and Christmas this year, it was obvious she was starting to slip mentally. I had given her pictures of me in my regalia from my dissertation graduation and she had to ask 3 times who the girl in the picture was. I replied that it was me and on the third time she asked "Whose this dumb girl" and then I replied it was me and then she told me that I was "old". So our family joke is now I am the "that old, dumb girl". I know that my grandmother loved me so much and that this was not her fault, just one of the sad (but funny parts) about aging. My sister Sarah proclaims that my grandmother was still there mentally as on this same visit, she said that Sarah was "the beautiful one" (which is true :-)

I am smiling as I write this because I truly feel so incredibly blessed that I was lucky enough to have a grandmother this amazing. She literally devoted her entire life to making her family happy and serving them in every way. I hope to live my life so that I can honor this legacy she has begun. I love you Grandma.