Grandmothers

Cousin Loretta's story about her maternal grandmother made me think of mine. Her name was Elizabeth Ellen, but Grandpa called her Liz or Lizzie, my aunts and uncles called her Ma or Mom, and we grandchildren called her Grandma W.

Grandma was a force to reckon with, and sooner or later, she becomes the topic of conversation. When two or more members of the family are together for any length of time they often recount stories and share memories about her, although it has been many years since she passed away.

Grandma held a reverential distinction apart from our other relatives; she was part American Indian. We all take great pride in that jewel of kinship, although its importance fades as new generations come along.

My family lived some distance from Grandma and since we did not own a car, we rarely had the opportunity of visiting her. One rare visit came about during the great depression when Uncle Matt and Aunt Nettie, who had purchased a used auto, came to see us. They offered to drive us all to Grandma's for a visit. It was dark by the time we started the trip. Traffic was light and there were long stretches of highway between seeing the headlights of other vehicles coming or going. We eight children ranged in age from 1 to 11, and being small, Mom and Dad and Aunt Nettie held the youngest on their laps and the rest of us squeezed into niches between the adults. In those days the vehicles had mechanical brakes and no one had ever heard of seat belts. Uncle Matt drove at what was considered a fast speed and as we drove over the low rolling hills, my stomach would do a flip. In all probability, the speed was not excessive, but we children felt like we were flying, and the adult comments of 'making good time', added to the impression. I don't remember our arrival nor how long the visit was.

One year during the great depression we eight children went to spend the summer with Grandma. I remember the rooms of the two story house built into the side of a hill. A kitchen, dining room and a day room was down stairs and opened out onto a level area which was the back yard. The house entrance was on the street level and was the upper story where the front room, grandma's bedroom, bathroom and 4 more bedrooms were.

There was always a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and we children ate our meals at a round oak table in the kitchen. The adults ate at the long dining table in the dining room. I helped Elizabeth set the table and serve the pitchers of iced tea. Grandma had cut glass bowls and pitchers and each place had a cut glass salt cellar.

On summer nights, after all the little children were in bed asleep, Grandma would take a chair and sit on the front porch in the cool of the evening while Adeline and I sat on the steps to keep her company. Sometimes we could prevail upon her to sing for us. She sang hymns like Rock of Ages and Little Brown Church in the Vale, and folk songs. Our favorite was Jessie James; she knew all the verses.

Thinking back on those days, I wonder how Grandma managed to run the house and care for us. She had given birth to 16 children so she knew how to supervise our eight. One of her secrets was that the older children helped to look after the younger ones. I remember always playing in a group. If we went to the empty stadium to play among the bleachers and run the track or sat on the floor and played card games like Fish and Michigan Rummy, we always played in a group. Even when we walked across town to see Aunt Rita and her new baby, we went as a group.

Being at Grandma's house was always exciting. We admired her two colorful love birds and loved her dog Penny, an American Spitz. We liked running errands to the post office or the day old bakery for loaves of bread. We liked playing in the park where a large statue of Chief Mahaska stood. We especially liked it when she made home made peach ice cream in the old hand cranked freezer. Best of all, we liked seeing cousins and Aunts and Uncles when they stopped by or came for a visit.


peach ice cream