Childhood Memories

I found this old picture of myself and I'm guessing that I was about 5 years old. The bunny pin stuck to my jacket clued me in that this must have been taken on Easter Sunday. The chair that I am sitting in, was an antique chair of my grandmother's. Many of my childhood pictures, specifically from holidays or special occassions were taken in this chair. My grandmother used to make clothes for me when I was a little girl and she made the pink jacket I am wearing. I really admire people who can sew. I think it takes such talent.

My grandma also used to make barrettes for me. Remember the ones with the thin ribbons that were braided into the barrettes? And to make it extra cool, you would put beads at the end of the ribbon that would whip you in the face when you shook your head from side to side?

My grandma was such a wonderful person. She had the kindest heart and was always so happy. One of my favorite memories from childhood was hanging out at my grandparent's house during the summer. Sometimes my cousins were there with me, but lots of times it was just me. One of our favorite games to play was Bingo and my grandma always had a bag of wrapped prizes for the winner to choose from. I would watch old episodes of "I love Lucy" or "Leave it to Beaver" while snacking on Velveeta cheese and fudgesicles. They had a crotchety old dog named Philly who would curl up with me on my grandparent's bed in the afternoon and we would take a nap.

Little things used to excite my grandmother. She used to tell us that she enjoyed getting the cute little gift bags with the pretty tissue paper and we didn't need to bother putting a gift inside. She went through her first drive-thru carwash when she was in her 60's or 70's with my aunt and I think she almost peed in her pants because she thought it was so funny. She would get a little tipsy off a glass of champagne on special occassions and giggle like she was a teenager.

She was full of life and laughter until the day she died.

I miss her.