Spending so much time with my mother has been wonderful. We’ve had a lot of time to tell family stories and look at old family photos.
The house that Gr8 remembers as her home, is no longer standing. I’ve never seen it because it was gone before I have any memory of it. One day, I asked my mother to draw the floor plan of it for me. She did the first floor one day and then completed the project the next day.
We sat side by side on the couch and I listened to her describe where the furniture was and who slept where. She also took the time to tell stories about the games she played in the yard and where her friends lived in relationship to her home. I loved it!
Today, we had the chance to look through some old photos of hers and she actually found on of the house! She did a wonderful job of sketching the floor plan from her memory and the stories she told me became more vivid with the ability to see the photo of the house.
As she looked through a box of photos, she pulled out one of her mother standing with her two sisters. I loved my grandmother. We lost her when I was eight years old. I never got to meet the other two women, but I have a feeling that I remind all the kin on my mother’s side of the family of the three sisters. I am the one who most closely resembles my grandmother.
That very fact was the topic of a spirited conversation at Christmastime a few years back when some cousins got together. my Sis and Indybro were able to attend. I could not, so I’m sure it was more spirited than if I had been there. Oh well . . . so be it.
Below is the photo of my grandmother and her two sisters. It’s a little grainy because I took a photo of the photo, but the telling is in the overall . . . geometry, so to speak. My gram is the woman in the middle.
My mom has several boxes full of old photographs, some I haven’t seen in ages and others I may never have seen. When we head down to see them for vacation next month, I’m really looking forward to going through those pictures.
Trav: I hope you get to hear stories that go along with the photos. I’ve alotted time with my mother for the stories and the pix.
I have been pondering my comment. Having never seen what you look like, I can’t agree or disagree about whether or not you look like your grandmother or whether or not you carry her “geometry”.
But you said that you loved your grandmother and from what I’ve read, YOU are very loved, also. So maybe you DO carry your grandmother’s genes – the ones that give you the gift of being a loveable grandmother.
One of the things I really enjoy in life, is knowing the floor plan of a house or other building. I would have enjoyed Gr8′s drawings and descriptions. You are lucky to have this time for such things!
Carol: Whether I am loved or not would have to be asked of other people. I can only vouch for my own affections. But . . . I can affirm that I carry my maternal grandmother’s geometry. I’e known that I favored her since I was very young. At that time, I don’t think I was too thrilled. but now, it isn’t as important as what of her other traits I can pass on.
I am with you about floor plans. I must admit to using my primary school arithmetic graph paper for drawing floor plans to homes I would like to live in. HJow do we come upon such interests at such young ages?
That’s funny, G.G. I didn’t use graph paper, but I also drew all kinds of floor plans for homes when I was young. And many of my dreams throughout my life have been about me exploring how a home is laid out. I don’t know where these things come from, but I sure enjoy them!