Greetings Peachlings,
Sorry it's been so long. Things have been crazy and I fear it's only going to get worse. We've had a series of misfortunes with my mom's parents who are my dearest and closest grandparents. Ever since I was a little peach, these were the grandparents who made the biggest effort to remain in my life. She, reminding me of Betty White, and he with a strong resemblance to the late Walter Matthau. Since my grandfather worked for Boeing, they were moved between Washington, California and Tennessee quite often. Regardless, my mother always found a way to let us spend our summers with them.
There are many memories of my grandparents. Hearing the click of my grandpa's carousel projector as he showed home movies on his projection screen from "slides" is as clear to me today as it was in 1982. The popcorn that my grandma popped in her popcorn popper was a nice addition. I especially enjoyed melting the butter in the tray on top, and then pouring it over the freshly popped kernels. My brother Mike and I used to take trips in my grandma's giant brown Oldsmobile to the local Toys R Us. On the way, she would listen to a cassette tape of the Smurf's, "Smurfing Sing Song" album. The lyrics went something like this:
"Hee...high...ha, ha, ha...on one leg and round I go..."
I'm not at all surprised that I turned out to be gay.
In case you are reading this and are barely legal, Smurfs were the craze during the early 80's.
Anyway, she would always spoil us in the way a grandma knows how with a Matchbox car or the latest action figure. Our summer's in Oak Ridge, Tennessee were some of my fondest. During the day my grandma would help us sell popcorn and lemonade on her front lawn. At dusk we would find Box Turtles and create miniature beach environments in our large plastic swimming pool. Fireflies escaped us as we tried to capture them in jars and watch their glowing green bellies. As dusk turned into night, we would then gather in their family room and watch the game show, "Sale of the Century" followed by the comedy, "Mama's Family."
But perhaps the most memorable moment of my grandparents, specifically my grandmother, comes from when I was about five or six years old. During those summer mornings in Puyallup, Washington I used to watch "The Great Space Coaster." Remember that show? It had a giant clown-like character dressed in a rainbow shirt named Baxter, a newsman by the name of Gary Gnu, ("no news is good news with Gary Gnu") and an elephant named Edison. Anyway, I used to sit on her lap as she rocked in her rocking chair listening to the intro chorus...
"Get on board, step inside, soarin on a magic ride...Roarin to the other side where only rainbows hide...on the great space coaster..oh-oh-oh...on the great space coaster...get on board...the great space coaster..."
You get the idea.
As I sat on her lap one summer morning, she said, "Ohhh, but when you are older in your 20's and have children of your own, you won't even remember me."
I guess she was wrong because I certainly do not have children...even at 31...and... "gram, I'll always remember you"...no matter what.
So, my dear peachlings, this is what I've been dealing with. Hopefully one day, I'll be back to posting more often!
Recent Comments