Grammie ( dads grandmother )
and Great Grandmother Gathright. We always called her "Great Grandmother Gathright" in full ! It was a long title to say each time, but we just did. The 'great' stood for more than just the fact that she was a second generation Grandmother, She was truly Great !
Geneva, was one of the sweetest forgiving , gentle souls that I will ever meet. She did not live a glamorous nor easy existence in her final years, (decades) atop the Portland mountain. For her, it may as well have been the middle of nowhere, because I never recall her leaving the property.
Town days were far too long and full of errands for her to go, even had she been invited.
I remember her telling me , or maybe it was in a letter, that she had the opportunity to go to another sons home over Christmas, and how she was so excited and thrilled that they had taken her to the mall. Her son pushed her around in a wheelchair to see all the pretty Christmas lights and displays and children and happiness.( the wheelchair was only because it was too much to walk, and this way, she could just relax). I loved this visual that she described and i wished , even then in my youth, that i could whisk her away, so she could see happy things all the time.
I recall her very tidy, well lit room containing typical grandmother items. The rocking chair, doilys, beautiful handmade quilts on the beds (and it is funny that there were 2 beds! Why I didnt request to bunk with her instead of nancy and the cats upstairs, i'm not sure!)
I was also taught to "tat", like Nova, I was taught again and again! It's something you have to keep up between visits to remember. I was also taught how to make the yo-yo's for the quilt that I would make one day, just like Great Grandmother Gathright's ! I made many a yo'yo over the years, I think we began just pooling them to make one family quilt, because it takes like a thousand of them! I'm sure mum has them tucked away somewhere for some unsuspecting grandchild to pick up the pieces!
Being 8 years older than Nova, things were different for me on the farm. I was not allotted copious amounts of free time. There was always work to be done. I was expected to do a lot of household chores, dinner prep, dishes afterwards, ( general cleaning didnt seem to be high on the priorty list) a quick vacuum, on the one rug, and sweeping, nothing too fussy, just to get the hay and bits up. I dont think they worried about cat hair ..I preferred the chores up at the barn, but you see, because i was female, i wasn't excused from household chores, . If i wanted to do the outside chores, i had to do both! Unlike the boys,( JIM) who got to have free time to watch TV, drink chocolate milk, and explore. Anyhow! I dont want to get sidetracked away from the subject here, but my point being that, I did not have much free time between all the meals, and the barn chores, so i did not get to spend nearly as much time with GGG as i had wanted, She was always in bed when i returned from night chores.
But the times that i did sit on her bed, i will always treasure. My favorite thing to do, was listen to her tell her stories, as we went thru her photo albums of black and white pictures of her and her sisters. She loved to do this, as did I. The vintage photos depicted a charmed life of picnics, long poofy dresses with tight waists and parasols, young men dressed in hats and suits of the day, that would willingly escort these lovely southern belles on their country excursions. It was straight out of the movies!! Starring Geneva ! Those days and memories would seem a lifetime away for GGG, compared to her isolated life on the mountain. She lived for those memories....
and for the trip to the mailbox to get some taste of the world outside of hers. I know what Nova was meaning, about wishing we understood a little more at the time. I am glad that mum nagged and forced us to put pen to paper to write to her on occasion. It was my chance to use all the pretty stationary with matching envelopes that seemed to be accumulating from birthdays . I just wished I had taken it upon myself to write regularly. Now I know how much it meant to her. The things that really stand out in my mind when I think of her , was her unconditional forgiveness, utter positivity , and non-judgemental disposition . You would never hear her complain or speak ill towards or about anyone. If there was a ever a living saint, to me, this was one.
No comments:
Post a Comment