Memories of a Grandmother

This weekend I had many reminders of Grandma Stenger. She used to carry garden produce in her clothes as shown in the picture above. She'd put the fruits, herbs or vegetables a pouch formed when she held up the hem of her skirt or shirt. I do that too sometimes - gets my clothes all dirty. She was mentioned several times at the wedding of my cousin. One of my cousins in particular went on at length about Grandma. This cousin is one of the few of my relatives who could be called outgoing. She can talk your ear off. I love this cousin. She is so friendly and so funny and such a breath of fresh air. She is very exciteable. She remembered Grandma giving her advice when she was a young mother. Grandma told her, "The baby can't be calm unless you are calm. What you feel, the baby feels too." My cousin said Grandma would take the fussiest baby and hold it against her stomach and the baby would relax and go to sleep. My Grandma loved to hold babies. She was most content with a baby in her arms. My Grandma was a gardener. When I see those cutouts of people bending over in the garden, I think of Grandma. Grandma was short (less than 5 feet tall) and round but she could bend over at the waist and lay her palms flat on the floor without a struggle. Grandma used everything. She saved everything. She was ahead of her time in terms of eating locally. She made her own horseradish. She ate dandelion greens in the spring. Once the flowers appear on the dandelions, the taste becomes too bitter. Although she couldn't hear well, she was a excellent listener. She paid attention to what you said and seemed to listen without judgement. She didn't really gossip either. She kept us all informed of what we were doing but it was informational, not gossipy. She was like the telephone operator of the family. We knew of our cousins and what they were up to because she kept us informed. No one else fills that role now that she is gone. She made excellent cookies. She would make Christmas cut out cookies and decorate them with colored frosting. Her entire bed would be covered with Christmas cookies waiting for the frosting to dry. She made Haystack cookies (oatmeal, cocoa, coconut and walnuts). She made wonderful apple pie squares. I have the recipe but don't make it often because they are a lot of work. She canned her food. She canned tomatoes and jelly. My talkative cousin reminded me that I was so fortunate to live near Grandma. I lived next door and could see Grandma whenever I wanted. This cousin lived a couple miles away. Grandma would come over to her house for the day and make home made doughnuts but then she was gone until the next time. I have a picture of Grandma as a young woman standing next to Grandpa beside a tree. Grandpa is wearing a straw hat and he has his hand on his hip and he looks very smart. Grandma is wearing what looks to be a striped silk dress with white stockings and Mary Jane shoes. I am mailing a copy of this photo to my talkative cousin - she'll love it. I was very fortunate because I got to spend time with both of my Grandmothers. And both Grandmothers were remarkably strong women. Someday I'll write about Grandma Suchy too.