My grandparents were a tremendous influence on me growing up. I learned volumes from them on things such as family, forgiveness, community, God, work, and charity.
My grandmother, Patsy, was an adorable 4 foot 10 inch spitfire who would often curse with her signature "she-I-T" when she forgot to put the rolls in the oven or if the smoke alarm went off. She named the hummingbirds that fed in their backyard every year -- all with names that started with H. She wore one of those aprons that said "nobody cooks like" with the extra letters to iron-on for your name, but in at least a decade of wearing, she never ironed her name on the apron. She always had peppermints and Wrigley's Spearmint gum. She hummed when she did housework and cooked. She used two giant leather-bound dictionaries to work the Sunday crossword puzzle, but would call me for pop-culture references when I was in middle and high school. I was devastated when Mammaw Patsy died of cancer in February of 2002, but I am grateful for every moment I was able to spend with her and for everything I learned from her.
My grandfather, Glenn, is another story altogether. I love him to death. He was a marine, a fireman, and is what my grandmother used to call "a tinkerer." I've never seen someone do more to try to fix something in my life. When we evacuated to Shreveport during Hurricane Katrina, my grandfather welcomed us with open arms. Andrew was two months old and it was less than an ideal forced vacation to my hometown. When we arrived I saw that my grandfather had all the pieces of an ironing board strewn all over the back porch and was attempting to reassemble it. It was a wooden ironing board. Made of wood. He worked on the ironing board for almost the entire two weeks we were there before giving up on it and heading to Walmart for a new ironing board. The old one had been his mother's and was probably from 1925, and no, I'm not exaggerating because my grandfather was born in 1926.
Pappaw hates new stuff. One of my favorite things to do when I'm at the house is to quiz him on the age of things around the house. My favorite is the plastic green dustpan that was purchased the same year my mother was born. So, just to show you the fun that surrounds Casa de Pappaw should you ever visit, here is my photo study.
I like to call this collection of photos "The House Where Time Stands Still."
It's always December 2003
I'm not sure if you can make it out, but the note says "Love you, Erin. 12-22-97 Merry X-mas!" Erin is my cousin, who was 12 in 1997.
This would be the new flat-screen tv next to the non-working console tv, which is now a shelf, obviously (holding the RECORD PLAYER). The kids were watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that's Johnny Depp looking weird.
This photo is from the entryway. This lovely faux wicker set has been hanging in this exact spot since 1984 when my grandparents moved into the house. Those candles used to be Williamsburg Blue and have never been lit. The red flowers are new and are just awful.
This white, orange, and green carpet could probably induce seizures. It's in the "computer room." This is the room I would sleep in when I spent the night in high school. I don't know how I didn't have nightmares. The light fixture used to match -- it was all kinds of disco awesome.
No, this isn't Pappaw's current phone number, so don't call and ask for his primo decorating tips. Here's something funny though: I can remember my friend Will's phone number from high school because of this phone. When I would spend the night at my grandparents' house and call him, it took ten minutes to dial the number because of all the 9s and 7s. By the time the phone would ring, I'd already forgotten why I had called in the first place.
And now for the portion of the photo study I call "Paint it Brown." The family joke is that my Pappaw paints everything brown so it resembles wood.
Yeah, he painted the birdhouse and pole brown.
No, the mailbox didn't come in brown -- he had to paint it that color. The original wooden post was hit by someone on the street, so Pappaw made a post out of some sort of metal and painted it brown to resemble wood. I believe his exact words were "just let them try to run it over now."
While I am poking fun at my grandfather, I love him very much and think he's the best. I loved spending time with him during the holidays and hearing old fireman stories and talking about Andy Griffith . He's the only person who calls my son, Andrew, "Andy" and I love that.
