Our sweet Grandma Maddox went to heaven the day after Christmas to raise cain with Grandpa Nels. Here, are just a few of the million things I loved about her.
Peanut butter fudge. I blame Grandma for my addiction to peanut butter in any shape, size or form.
The women gathered around the kitchen table. My mom, Aunt Barb, Grandma, Aunt Linda, Aunt Kate, Aunt Joanne, Aunt Gloria, Great Grandma and too many more to mention. The laughter, the laughter, the laughter. It filled up the room and painted everything in it. It was the girl talk you usually only read about. Except I got to run through it with chocolate on my hands, Jell-o stains on my face and holes in my jeans. Everything was warm, rich and full.
The kitchen. Grandma cutting veggies from the garden, cleaning strawberries over the sink, canning tomatoes with my mom. Making a 3-course meal when the preacher stopped by unexpectedly. Feeding 12 of us with a meatloaf the size of a bread pan, flanked by enough side dishes to feed the entire street, no problem.
The potato cellar. It was the scariest thing in the house. We hated to go down there but thrilled at the challenge. There’s a lone dusty wooden chair in the middle of it. Who sits in the chair? No one. At least no one we can see. Only much later, just this year, did I realize the great fun that could be had by sending my own children to the potato cellar. And scratching on the window while they were in it.
Cousins. Is there any other reason for Grandma and Grandpa houses except to have a spot for the grandkids to pile in and make a mess of things? Mismatched mittens, mashed potato catapults, TomCat card games and dancing to John Anderson in the backroom.
Blankets. Grandma had the finest assortment of blankets, all homemade and full of stories in themselves. At bedtime we built our beds like a flat neighborhood. One cousin bordering another bordering another bordering another. And of course the real fun began when the lights went out and the giggles began.
Grandma’s couch. It was always full of people. But the best part was to sit there and watch whoever and I mean whoever came in after the couch was full, automatically grab a kitchen chair and drag it into the living room to join the gang.
We love you Grandma for your gift of happiness, simple times, friends and FAMILY!