My 3 Grandma's

~Grandma K, author, Grandma Robbie, and Grandma S...circa 1965

Every kid should have at least one grandma. I had 3! We probably don't fully appreciate our grandparents until their gone. All of my Grandmas passed away in the 1970's. I never got the chance to have an adult conversation with any of them. I was 11 when my Mom's Mom passed away, 16 when my Dad's Mom died, and 18 when my Great-Grandma's days came to a close. If I were able to have a conversation with any of them today, I'd like to hear them tell stories about their respective childhoods. I'd like to know what they remember about 1st grade, what they liked to do on Saturdays when there was no school, and how they spent their Summers when they were teenagers. I'd like to know what they remember about their childhood friends, how they met my Grandads, and what they remember about the first time they heard a radio broadcast or saw a TV. In general, I'd love to hear them tell about what it was like growing up in the early 1900's, or about raising families from around 1915 through the early 1970's.

I have a lot of memories of my Grandma's, all of them good. One of the earliest things I remember about my Grandma S was sitting on her lap in a rocking chair and asking her, "Grandma, why are you so fat?" She replied, "I prefer to think of it as pleasantly plump!" I remember giggling when she said that, while she hugged me and graciously chuckled at her Grandson's naive social incorrectness. She was the same Grandma who specialized in white coconut cake and always had orange flavored Hi-C on hand, back when it came in a can. She also had a black and white cat named Tippy, who aside from keeping the surrounding area free from mice and other small critters, was able to perform various circus style tricks upon command. I also fondly remember the activities that surrounded the  yellow metal glider that occupied the front porch of Grandma and Granddad's house. We used to sit on that old glider on Summer evenings as Granddad hand-rolled his cigarettes with tobacco from the red can of Prince Albert that he kept in the chest pocket of his overalls. We'd sit there and watch the cars and trucks that drove up and down the city street their home sat on, while Grandma smiled and waved and Granddad shared his knowledge of the occupants of the various vehicles (sometimes it was positive). This all took place in the same home our Mom and her three sisters grew up in during the 1940's through the very early 70's.

My Great-Grandma was famous for a number of reasons. Growing up in our rural route 1 home, we only had soda on special occasions for the most part, like payday Friday nights, birthdays and backyard ice cream making events. So the fact that she always had a good assortment of those little 6 oz bottles of Coca-Cola in the door of her white Frigidaire, was a big deal to her three Great-Grandson's from Rolla. Without fail, within the first 2 or 3 minutes of walking up the steps and into her little house, she'd ask, "You boys want a sodie?" My brother's and I would then hurry back to the kitchen and grab up 3 bottles of Coke, before opening each of them with that yellow handled bottle opener she kept on a string tied to the cabinet next to the "fridge". We'd quickly guzzle them down in hopes of getting a second bottle to be savored over a longer period of time. My memory is that she also always had a bag of barbecue flavored Kitty Clover potato chips on the table by the back window of her kitchen-the same window you could open when no one was looking and climb out onto her screened in back porch, that contained a number of trinkets from days gone by that we found somewhat fascinating. I could go on about her famous back porch, the basement that was hand-dug by "Paw-Paw" and friends sometime in the 1930's, and the attic; but I'll save all that for maybe some other time.

All the years we were growing up, our Grandma "Robbie" lived in the same house my Dad did most of his growing up in. Her little white house was situated in a tiny little burg a few miles east of California, Missouri; a mile or so off the beaten path. I don't ever recall visiting Grandma Robbie when she didn't have an ample supply of Nehi grape and orange soda in her kitchen. She always kept a few in her fridge for emergencies and a back-up stash on the floor between the "icebox" and the side kitchen door. I've mentioned the big pear tree before and the old backyard tool shed that we liked to mess around in, so I'll try not to repeat myself. On our summer visits to Grandma Robbie's house, we'd sometimes volunteer to mow her yard with the old-fashioned push reel mower she stored in her tool shed. Mowing her yard was a lot of fun for about 30 seconds or so, before quickly becoming work and not nearly as desirable an activity for young lads. Grandma also had a pink candy dish full of orange marshmallow "Circus Peanuts" that she kept on the lower shelf of her china cabinet, situated to the left of her front door as you entered the kitchen. We'd grab up a handful of those babies as soon as the opportunity presented itself before going back for seconds.

I suppose I could write a small book about the mostly non-earth shattering events that took place at the home's of my 3 Grandma's while I was a kid. Maybe I'll do that some day and title it, "My 3 Grandma's": like "My 3 Son's", only different...I'll keep you posted.