No One Was Quite Like Her
Grandma Ida. Those two words always carried happiness with them, as did she wherever she went. A gentler personality I do not think existed. Each year, she would find a way to travel the hours and miles from her state to ours, and how we looked forward to this! The small treats, and the gift of her sweet temperament seemed to have a calming effect on us all. No one could ever be churlish or gloomy around Grandma Ida, and I am sure our parents breathed a sigh of relief whenever she arrived.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelles/2836918534/
And a much-favored tradition had been established. She would walk downtown with us and let us each pick out a cake mix for her to bake with us. Nothing could have been as exciting as that walk and that baking, and we looked forward to it all year. My choice was always 'chocolate pudding cake', and my slightly older sister leaned toward chocolate. It made the whole world feel like a party.
And to top this off, every year she sent us each a $1 bill on our birthdays. An embarrassment of riches!
Although I had grown beyond pudding cakes and dollar bills, I was next to Grandma once again as we headed companionably toward a new destination. We talked, and laid out plans, and dreamed of success. Surely this time, college and studies would suit me well. Surely there would be no failure. It was the Moment I had been waiting for.
Grandma and I drove slowly toward my brother's street, our eyes peeled for the tiny girl who had been born while I was in New Zealand. At long last we pulled up to the house, and suddenly out the door came my big brother, holding the most adorable 5 month old baby girl ever! Light auburn hair, the biggest green eyes, and - most surprisingly - she looked like me!
It was a new little Life, and a new beginning all rolled sweetly into one.
An embarrassment of riches.
See you along the way!
the SconeLady
Corvallis, Oregon
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/3099800070/">Tony Fischer Photography</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>
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