Grandmas

I was blessed to have two of the best Grandmas a girl could ever want.  They were a huge part of my life as they both lived well into their late 90's.   My Grandma Dempsey was 46 when I was born, and I was her sixth grandchild.  She was a widow by the time she was 65 and she went on to live the next 33 years alone. I have so many memories of my Dempsey Grandparents and oddly one of those memories was that I always thought they seemed old. I don't think children look at Grandma's as old today, but maybe they do.  I think Grandmas look young and classy but that is just my thoughts.   

Grandma Dempsey

My Grandma Dixon lived in Brandon so time with her wasn't the same as being just a few miles away like my other Grandparents.  I have lots of fond memories of her visits and we would stay connected through letters, phone calls were simply too expensive. We would faithfully write to her and it was an exciting moment to get a letter back.  She would use every part of her writing paper and would finish the letter off by writing up the sides. I have adapted letter writing as part of my connection with my grandchildren.  I have learned the art of filling an envelope so you can get it through the slot, so you don't have to pay for a package. I am hopeful my Grandkids will have the same excitement of getting mail as I remember as a child. I still love to get personal mail which doesn't happen very often, but a wonderful child like feeling comes over me when it does.  

Grandma Dixon

Both of my Grandmas were Great Great Grandma's by the time of their death. I never knew my great grandparents.  I was 19 when my Grandpas died, and 53 when my last Grandma passed.  Although many couples are waiting until their 30s to have children there still seems to be a lot of Great Grandparents. There is no doubt that seniors live a longer life now. There are very few families that are blessed with as many grandparents and great grandparents as we have in our family.  When I was a kid, we had not only our own grandparents but we also had a Grandpa Elliott and Grandma and Grandpa Bevan.  No one ever corrected us, I guess it was okay to take on our cousins grandparents as our own.   

I do think that grandparents have a huge impact in the life of grandchildren.  I grew up with my grandparents close as did my kids to their grandparents.  My Grandchildren are geographically a long distance away, so our time together is different than families that live close. My plan is to have something unique that we do together, in the hopes it will always be a special memory for them. Grandma Dixon taught me to knit when I was 9.  Grandma Dempsey was a seamstress although I don't remember her teaching me to sew. I have always been interested in sewing I think from watching the magic that happened as I stood beside her as she sewed.  Grandparenting is certainly different than being a parent.  It is evident that grandparents have endless amount of patience and tolerance to behavior that would never have been allowed at one point in time.  Grandparents have all kinds of time, and that is really true.  Like the quote says it's an adventure and I am adding of unconditional love. 

                                             

Traditionally, when the first Grandchild is anticipated the decision of what that child will call you begins. I think that "Grandma" is the most used name, and another very popular one is Nan or Nana.  I even know a family who is formal with "Grandmother".  My Grandchildren call me "Grandma Faye" and my mom "Grandma Carole".  They do that because they have been blessed with so many grandmas, they add our first name for clarification. 

Losing a Mom or a Dad younger than anticipated means also losing the opportunity to have them as a Grandparent.  Sadly, it is a gap that can't be filled by anyone.  I have noticed with my Mom she grandma's all kids.  I think once you are of age to be a grandparent or are one, there seems to be a connection that just happens with kids.  There are never to many surrogate grandparents or surrogate grandchildren.  It is a special kind of love that just happens. 

As Christmas approaches I think of the cookies that my Grandma Dempsey used to make.  There were several different kinds but the ones I remember the most were the Jam Jams and Oatmeal cookies with dates.  For an unexplained reason they were only made at Christmas time.  Mom recently had her Christmas holiday at my house and we made the Jam Jams.  We had to source the recipe off of the net because the family recipe was lost in the fire.  Of course like everything else there were dozens of recipes but Mom remembered using baking soda not powder and it was dissolved in water, so we were able to narrow the search.  I have never made those cookies because Mom always did and I don't like making roll out cookies, so why would I start now.  As I watched Mom, she got the perfect rhythm and the consistency came as her practiced hands handled the dough. The splash of jam and molasses brought back the wonderful childhood memories of eating them at my Grandma's house.  

They are so good

Rolling out the dough
with such practiced hands

I had a Christmas baking day with my little Baking Buddy.  It is clear that Christmas baking traditions have changed, no dehydrated fruit, nuts, coconut, mincemeat or even raisins.  Those ingredients have been replaced with chocolate chips or marshmallows and decorated with red and green sprinkles.  It looks very festive to say the least.   I just want to say when a baking day happens with my Baking Buddy, it is very productive. This year we made: cinnamon buns, toffee marshmallows, banana muffins, pumpkin muffins, Christmas crack, brownie and bread pudding with caramel sauce.  We always designate who we are going to share with and her Papa was the recipient this time.  

Not everyone bakes, so sharing is the best part of Christmas baking.  To see the joy on the faces of people that receive a gift of sweet things in a fancy box is so much fun. My Grandma Dempsey would make up trays of baking to give away and this year I plan to carry on that tradition.  There is nothing better than a "time and talent" gift.  I hope each of you reading this has a tradition that you remember and one that you plan to share with others.  Remember "Sharing is Caring".