In Memory of Grandma Alice
1911-1997
These are some of the wonderful
memories I have of my Grandma. I sure remember many fine times we had there when
my sisters and I were kids!
 She cooked us delicious food, which included the best
oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever had in my life. I have never been able to
make oatmeal cookies quite as good as those!
She let us dress up in
her clothes when my sisters and I were kids!
Took us to a restaurant called Sun Garden when we were
little. We considered this a big treat!
Took us to an ice cream place called Farrell's, where
if you ordered certain menu items, or if you had a birthday, they would run
around the restaurant, blow whistles, sound a siren, and cause a big ruckus!
There was one menu item called a Zoo. It was a big bowl filled with many
different kinds of ice cream. They would run all around the restaurant with two
guys holding it. One time they almost didn't make it around a corner! They
slipped and almost dropped it!! (The linked restaurant is in California, but
they used to be in Milwaukee, too. The picture of the interior looks just
like the restaurant I remember as a child!)
She usually had candy in her little candy dish (often
gumdrops or Brach's mix). Many times she had Pep-O-Mint Lifesavers, too. I can taste that
same peppermint taste in my mouth and go right back to my childhood in an instant!!
She let me can tomatoes with her once.
Grandma baked really good oatmeal-raisin cookies and
banana cake.
Indulged me occasionally with pork and sauerkraut which
I didn't get at home!
My sisters and I liked it when she made ham dinners
with mashed potatoes. Also, for any special family meal, she usually had a
relish tray with olives and spiced apple rings. I usually liked the apple rings!
Made me feel special when I came for overnights by
myself.
She also made delicious homemade pickles, jelly, and
potato sausage!
Used to tell stories about her life on the farm in the
early 1900's and how she used to bring strangers home for supper!
Loved to plant white alyssum in the flower gardens
around her house. The alyssum in my own flower garden reminded me of her the
other day as I stood there with the hose watering my flowers. I love the little
white flowers!
I remember going to their house at Christmas
time. They always had a silver tabletop tree. Since you can't put
lights on a metallic tree, they had a light on the floor that had three
different color lenses that rotated in front of it in red, blue, and
green. I loved watching the different colors come over the tree as the
light rotated. I can't remember if the tree rotated, too or not.
Sometimes we went to their house on Christmas Eve to eat and open
presents. Then my family would go to church on the way home. When I was
younger, they would come to our house on Christmas Eve, after my mom and my
sisters had gone to church because we all sang in the choir. My dad and my
grandparents would play "Santa Claus" while we were gone. Then
they would come to church. When we all got home from church after the
candlelight service, all of the presents would have "magically"
appeared. It was always fun to come back from church to find the presents
all under the tree! Then we would eat and open presents.
Grandma died in October 1997. She
and Grandpa had just celebrated 62 years of marriage in September 1997. He took
care of her himself until the last 6 weeks or so. She went downhill rather
quickly after she went into the nursing home. I think she wanted to still be
home with Grandpa! It was hard to watch Alzheimer's disease take over my
Grandma! She certainly liked and enjoyed a variety of activities, before the
Alzheimer's took over.
I talked to my Grandpa the other day, and he reminded me how much Grandma
loved to can tomatoes. He would raise the tomatoes and she would can them. They
both enjoyed eating them in the winter. She canned tomatoes and made pickles
every year while she was able to. Those pickles were good, too!
Click here to
read a poem about Grandmas!
© 1997-2006 by lakebreeze@lakebreeze.org
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This page lovingly updated on
November 16, 2014 5:00 PM
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