Near to me

Jergens lotion original scent
Peanut Butter bars candies
The sound of that old white refrigerator's foot pedal, to open the freezer
The little chips of ice in the freezer
Ti-coups
Dr. Pepper
Spanish eggs (with stewed tomatoes)
The way she washed her face with a soapy washcloth
Ivory
English Lavendar
Raisin Bran for lunch
Pepperidge Farm Very Thin sliced bread
Toasted peanut butter
Toaster ovens in general
Raisin Toast
When she would sit down and draw the "buildings" we made with her wooden blocks, so we could recreate them later
Catholic Digest magazine
The cute way she "softened" toilet tissue by crinkling it around before using it
Her style and elegance
Her jewelry
Unloading the dishes early in the morning
Stopping to let me sit on her lap
Her refined Southern accent
Salted pecans
Coffee ice cream with cherry preserves and walnuts
Cut glass ice cream bowls
Brandy
Cranberry juice cocktail served in everyday stemware
Pepperidge Farm Brussels cookies
When her kitchen door was open on nice days
The way she always called my singing voice 'velvety'
Sleepy Baby
That little electric keyboard we played on for hours
Froggy Went a-Courtin'
Woolworth's
Saengers
The red card table and chairs
"Yes, indeed"
"No damage done."
The dear Blessed Mother
"As for me and my house..."
September Morn
Her scrapbook
Boxes of photos
When she played the piano (once in a while)
"Running a household is hard"
Roast with gravy, white rice and lima beans
Eggs with Vienna Sausages
Watching the snow from her bright dining room window
Gumbo

Grandmother has been on my mind lately. I don't know why. I got to thinking about her -- had a hankering for Spanish eggs, actually -- and it spiraled the other night. I cried with missing her for some reason. KT asked me yesterday if she had died. When I said yes, she said kind-of wistfully, "Oh, it's too bad I didn't know her." Yes, sweet girl. It is too bad. She would have loved you.

So many of these memories came to me last night after thinking about them, and I got kind-of desperate to write them down. Many of them are part of my continued daily life. There are of course more, woven into who I am.




I wonder if she's keeping very near to me right now.