This post is long, the next one will be shorter and probably less sentimental. Sorry in advance, on to the post!
I was applying for a job and the application said something to the effect of “whats a memory you’d like to go back to experience again?” and I wrote the following;
My favourite memory is going to my grandparent’s house, They lived in the middle of nowhere in a sunshine yellow house. Flowers cover the front of the house and around to the side door, where we are met with hugs, a barking dog and someone yelling “it’s open!”. There’s always secret treats hidden just for us when we visit, something that grampa can’t eat and is hidden away for us to find. In the backroom, we have the treasure drawer filled with costume jewellery, games, and adventures yet to be discovered. In the closest, there are dresses, shoes, scarves, and everything else needed to turn into whoever we were for the day. Downstairs was the perfect spot to have a school, restaurant, pub, bakery, fashion studio or runway, with a tv nearby if we wanted to watch a show or a movie for a break.
Outside was where the magic truly came out. The gazebo became a castle we were to defend, a house or cottage, a bank and a factory. The tree beside it became our plane, ship, lookout post, jail, hideout, and training centre. Behind the house was a hedge, behind the hedge was a large garden with a sunflower patch at the front and various veggies in the back. To the back of the house, there is a forest with pine, spruce and oak, roses and wildflowers growing between them peppered like bits of sun on a cloudy day. To the other side of the house was the garage, the old chicken coop turned shed and a larger garden that held potatoes, peas, pumpkins, onions and carrots. The best afternoons are the ones picking fresh peas and shucking them, the dirt brings out a better flavour. The same goes for the carrots, something about them being freshly picked just made the taste just that much sweeter and better than store-bought. Sitting in the kitchen was the best, no matter the weather, holiday or season there is always something on the stove or in the oven. It adds to the magical feeling the house gives, being here is light and a vacation from school, our parents, nightmares and everything else that can go wrong. Sitting in the living room we get a front-row seat to the turkeys and other wildlife that come across the field, the birds coming to the feeders and the people passing by. People watching is a big thing in gramma and grampas house, its fun to come up with stories for each person driving by and seeing who can make the silliest one. The very best time here is sitting in the kitchen on a Sunday morning in pyjamas and slippers, eating a bowl of raisin bran and drinking orange juice. Gramma does 3 things in the mornings on Sundays, she has her coffee and morning smoke, she pours herself a bowl of cereal (Rasin Bran) and she gives herself a manicure. When I wake up here on Sundays, she always has a bowl ready for me to soak my hand while I eat my breakfast.
They weren’t vocal about sharing their lives, feelings and thoughts but they were there when we needed them and some memories to share with those that come along. I’d love to go back and relive the Sunday morning routine with gramma before my dad would come to pick us up.
I dont remember sleeping over at my grandparent’s house very much, when we did it was memorable. My favourite memory from going there is family dinners and Sunday mornings with Gramma, I remember sitting and doing this Sunday ritual many times since I was oh I guess 4 or so. I remember the smell of the coffee, her cigarettes, the raisin bran, the cleaner she used to clean the house before I woke up(i woke up to her vacuuming, every morning there at about 6 or so), and the types of polish she would use. I never told anyone to my memory because well it was our time I guess, it was when I was just me. We would have the little tv they had in the kitchen on with the news or the radio on and sit in silence. Of my siblings and I think I was the closest to her, I’ve been told im alot like her in some ways. I know from what people have told me that she went through alot of things in her life and many of them I dont know, she and my granny gave me the best advice to this day that I follow.
I like to think she would be proud of who I am today, I was not very good at keeping in contact with her (or many others, im better now but it takes time). Gramma did a few things that im going to cherish besides the memories, she made a LinkedIn profile (the big mass email they have you send out to your contacts, she got that and filled everything out, it’s very cute), Sent emails every week seeing how I was doing knowing I hated talking on the phone, she’d call on Sunday when I wasn’t working or in school every once in a while.
Anywho, im getting a little too sentimental so im going to be off, I hope you’re having a lovely day and something wonderful happens to you today!
Till Next Time,
Meg
AdventuresWithMeg 