I was in the bathroom about an hour ago and I was going through my nightly routine of washing and moisturizing my face and brushing my teeth... not all at once of course but anyway...
As I stood there brushing my teeth I had a memory of my Grandma, on my dad's side, creep up into my brain...
One night when my sister and I were staying at her house we would get ready for bed together. My grandma when I was little had a full set of dentures that she of course would take out and brush just before she went to bed.
I remember asking her the next morning after one such evening why it was that she had dentures. I don't remember the explanation why it was that she had them, but I remember her looking me in the eye and telling me that I need to take good care of my teeth so that I didn't have to get fake ones like hers. Going on to explain that she used to have very good teeth and that she hopes that neither of us (my sister or I) would ever have to get false ones. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I was just little. I'm not sure how old exactly but I know that my Grandma passed away when I was 10...
So of course going along on the thought process train... it choo-choo'd along to how fascinated I always was of her false teeth. She thought it very odd that I would ask if I could brush them for her (shh I was a kid wtf did I know) So she would hold them and would let me brush them with her toothbrush. I would comment that I thought it was handy to just take your teeth out to brush them and then put them back in, in the morning, and if you had anything caught in your teeth you would see it and be able to better brush it out.
I suppose I was always an odd child.
I regret that I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with my Grandmother and always felt that when we would go to visit that she didn't like me very much. She taught us lots of stuff and I get my crafty ways from her in a lot of ways. I remember going into their basement and it would be full of craft stuff. Grapevine wreaths that were partially made and waiting for us to decorate, she taught my sister and I how to cross stitch... she would have all sorts of projects for us to work on.
I don't remember why it was... but I remember...just barely... for about a week my dad would put my sister and I to bed, I was sleeping in a sleeping bag, for in the middle of the night before he went to work his midnight shift he would carry us out to the car that we had at the time, and woke up in my grandma's house and would spend the day with her.
I should ask my mom about that... maybe she was in the hospital or something...
Anyway... I always loved playing in the garden... chasing my sister around the house... sitting in the breezeway between the house and the garage playing cards...
One of the last times I had seen her my aunt was sneaking us kids, her two and my sister and I into the hospital. Hiding the baby at the time under her coat while we ducked and weaved around nurses and orderlies as we made our way up to her room.
It was only a couple of weeks later that she passed away.
Her death didn't really affect me at the time, what the hell do you really know about death at the age of 10?
When we got home from the funeral that day, me still in my dress clothes, I sat down on my bed at the time and started to cry. It wasn't until then that I sat down and realized that I was never going to spend the day with Grandma and visit with her ever again.
Now 20 years later... when a memory from that time comes to mind... I try to only remember the funny or positive stuff... and I take a few moments to quietly reflect and remember and smile... because I know that one day maybe 20 more years from now... I'll likely have forgotten them.
I suppose that's one of the reasons why I write so much stuff down... so that I can remember it later.
Who knows maybe one day I'll sit down and read this blog from start to finish and have all sorts of memories come running back. ... hrm... maybe not ;)
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| Love you Grandma and Grandpa |
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