I Heart Grandma Barb

Reposting this entry in memory of G.Barb.  5/26/12

Grandma Barb is Bill's paternal grandmother. She's 89 years old and lives alone. I might add that she lives alone in the same house on the farm that her husband's family settled close to 100 years ago. G.Barb likes to share the stories about the horrendous state of her house when she "came home" around 1940(ish). There was no running water, no electricity, nothing but an outhouse (a 2-seater--she's proud of that fact), and a few cows that had roamed through the rooms. She's lived in this house a long time. She raised two kids here, was married for 60 years here, and can tell a million stories about all of the things in life that she's experienced here. Personally, I think I've heard all of them, though she's been known to surprise me with a new one on occasion. (My all-time favorite G.Barb story is about how she and her mother-in-law snuck down the the local brothel and wrote down the license numbers on all of the cars parked there. She was proud of that one!)

I love Grandma Barb. Since my own Grandmas died when I was young (one when I had just turned 13 and one when I was 19), I've always been so thankful for her place in my life. I was so happy to have a Grandma available when Bill and I were married, when I had my first baby, and at all the other milestone moments in life. She was always there, wearing her brown and orange (she LOVES the color orange) pantsuits, Coty Wild Musk perfume, and sensible brown shoes. Always offering a listening ear, maybe a little advice, and usually a funny story pulled from her own experiences. Always one to cry at happy and sad events, G.Barb likes to say that her "bladder is behind my eyeballs." I love that one.

Grandma Barb has a fiery tongue. I've seen her tell people off in such a way that if there were awards for such things, she would be the Grand Champion. Flipping the bird at bad drivers? Oh, yes. Very much a G.Barb thing. God help the person who would mess with any of her family. Bill and I still laugh when we think about her favorite chide at his childhood sporting events: "Hey, you kid! Watch it!" And my all time favorite, "You rummy car!"

Something else we love about G.Barb is her incredible collection of figurines. Holiday figurines, animal figurines, ugly figurines. You name it, she probably has a figurine to represent it. Through the years she has shared some of these treasures with my figurine-loving girl. When we travel back to Oregon for a visit, you can often find Madeline talking with Grandma Barb, discussing all sorts of important things. Sometimes they visit for several hours, just sitting and talking, occasionally eating one of her chocolate chip cookies or always-present Drumstick ice cream cones. This has always struck me as a bit unusual, a preteen (and later teen) girl who would take the time to willingly visit with her elderly Great Grandma. I really think they both enjoy it.

As we were putting the seasonal decorations around the house this past week, we rediscovered many of our G.Barb treasures. Each one reminds us of her and the many, happy times that we've had together.

These are our seasonal favorites:

This pumpkin was certainly from the Dollar Tree. Nothing special, but G.Barb has one just like it.

Mr. Ghosty. He made the precarious trip via the USPS. His candle holder was broken during shipping, but we still love him.

My favorite, albeit unnamed, squirrel. This screams Grandma Barb to me. Madeline believes that this might be her first G.Barb original.