Storytelling Sunday---She Had a Swagger!

I decided to devote this post to my grandma Zimmermann. She was quite the character. I like to think I take after her. After all, I have these glasses and some fake buck teeth to boot.

In this particular picture, grandma was visiting after the birth of either Matt or Joyce. We didn't know she was coming, so she greeted us at the door after school looking like this---cheesy wig and nose glasses. She was always fun. When we went to visit her in the country (Barnhart, Missouri), she'd greet us at the door the same way. She grab hold of you---hard---and start punching your arm, or hook your neck in the crook of her arm and give you a "Dutch rub" (she would take her knuckles and rub them back and forth across the top of your skull).

She always had some planned activity for us. Usually she'd hide her clothespins all around the yard and we'd have to find them. Hey, wait a minute, now I realize that was a ploy to get rid of us for awhile---quite awhile---as she needed to have every last one of them back!

There was so much to love about the country---surrounded by woods to explore, bottle cap games, that country store beverage cooler full of slushy ice and soda. It was so much fun to reach in and see what you  would pull out. I can still remember the smell of the basement/rathskeller with it's "dirt" rooms that stored home canning and vegetables.

Then there was the "reading room" upstairs. She had all of the trashy tabloids---National Enquirer, True Confessions, True Romance, etc. We became reading fools there.

 We played many games on this front porch---Scrabble, Blitz, and dozens of other card games. She was a "rough and tumble" type of a gal. You can tell she has a swagger just by looking at this picture. Not really a "lady-like" type of gal. But then, there in lies the paradox. She LOVED her costume jewelry. What I wouldn't give to have a piece today.

And cook---oh, my gosh, she was the best! She loved to bake and entertain. Christmas Eve's were legendary! At least 50 varieties of cookies---that dining room table was overflowing. I'm fortunate to have many recipes from her---written in her beautiful script. I think I inherited my love of entertaining from her too.

I just loved this place. I got to spend a little extra time with her a couple of summers. She taught me about gardening---I credit her with my love for that. She was very religious---we said the Angelus at noon and the Rosary at 3 p.m. between her "stories" (soap operas).

There probably isn't a time that I "pull" some gag on my own grandkids that I don't think about her. After all, it's all about the memories---and you know I'm all over that!! I want my grandkids to think of me and tell stories of all the crazy things I did too. And that's exactly how I'll be leaving a little bit of me behind!

To check out some other great stories, please hop on over to my friend, Sian's who started this all:
Storytelling Sunday