Some Memories of Grandma

I thought I would post a memory about Grandma. After my mission, our family was in the process of moving out to Utah, and I thought it would be a good idea for Jody to start the school year there instead of coming in half way through the year. So he and I went out to Hatch in August so that he could get enrolled. Mom and Dad stayed in Texas while they were trying to sell the house.

I tried to cook a big dinner every night because Jody wasn't able to eat a big meal at school. Grandma didn't really like to eat her big meal at night, she always preferred to eat her big meal mid day so that she wouldn't go to bed on such a heavy meal. But she humored me, and we ate dinner at night. She had some kind of radiation on her nose earlier in life, so had lost part of her sense of smell. Your sense of smell is closely connected with your sense of taste, so she consequently also lost part of her sense of taste. But that actually worked good for her because everything tasted okay to her, she liked everything.

I do have a very vivid memory of a few weeks period of time when she had bought a case of pears. Pears are my favorite fruit, and were her favorite fruit also. I remember sitting with her eating breakfast, each of us slurping up pears to our hearts' content. I remember us both frequently commenting on how good they were. I don't know why this is such a strong memory...maybe because the sense of taste creates strong memories.

I also remember that sometimes her lack of sense of taste could also be a hinderment. One night she made zuchinni and tomatoes with bread crumbs. That is a dish I like, and we both enjoyed it. The next night she made some hot dogs cut up in pork and beans. I'm not a hot dog fan, but I ate it. For lunch the next day, she mixed the two dishes and heated them up.....

Another thing I remember is that one time she got some cauliflower from someone's garden. She boiled it (she boiled everything :) and put it on the table. I looked and could see tiny little flies all over in it. She couldn't see the flies. I was grossing out and told her that I could definitely see flies. She said it must be the flowerettes of the cauliflower. I told her I could see wings and legs. She said she didn't care, it gave extra protein. She ate the cauliflower, I didn't. She would probably have lived longer in famine than me.

One more memory...non food related. Grandma often had family members come by to visit. Quite often, there was contention between some of them, and when they would come, they would complain about something another family member had done. (I was eye witness to much of this) Grandma was always the peace maker, and tried to reason with them. She had a habit of writing down good quotes that she thought would be a good influence on them. She would tape these quotes to the door frames inside the house, so that as they were walking about the house, they would see the quote that encouraged them to forgive and make peace.

I do have a request. One of my favorite things was Grandma's book of funny names. I'm not sure who got it, but I would love it if you would write the list here on this blog. I remember some of the names and have laughed about them many times. Anytime she saw a funny name in the paper, or heard it on tv, she would write it down. Just a few that I remember: Nelly Bitibellie announced her engagement to a man whose last name was Policeman. She would soon be Nellie Bitibellie Policeman. Jean Irene Greenie announced her engagement to a man with the last name of Bean. She would soon be Jean Irene Greenie Bean. Another name I remember was Airy Crack. I would really like a copy of the list if anyone has it.