In the month of October it seems as though most of my family has a birthday. It starts out with a nephew, Norm on the 2nd, the 7th was an ex-in-law, mine is the 9th, Grandma Garrett was the 10th (today), the 14th is another ex-in-law, the 15th was my brother Joe's, Aunt Jenny's was the 25th, then comes a step-son's the 26th, the 30th is my sister Loretta's and to end the month out on the 31st is an ex-husband.
The one that prompted this blog is Grandma Garrett. She would have been 125 years old today. What amazes me when I think of Grandma Garrett is that she was born in the 1800's. I think of that being a loooooong time ago (which it was), but for her when she was alive it wasn't. It just was when she was born. Now fast forward to 1997. Our oldest grandson was born in September of that year. This was in the last century (Grandma Garrett was born in the century before), so when this grandson is 'old' he will think that the 20th century wasn't really all that long ago, but his grandkids and especially his great-grandkids will think he is really ancient :).
My memories of Grandma Garrett are sweet. She was an 'old' lady (probably in her late 70's to early 80's) when I was a teen, but a very active 'old' lady. She loved flowers. I think she had an acre of land planted in all types of flowers and every time we went to visit my mother came home with some type of plant for her garden. I also remember the 'chicken coop'. That was where all the 'old' pieces of furniture ended up when they were no longer needed in the house. We came home with several pieces of that 'old' furniture over the years too! She also wore her hair in braids wrapped around her head. I only remember seeing her hair down once in all the times we visited. She had a big round table in her kitchen that had a metal sugar bowl with a dent in it sitting in the center of that big round table. Grandma Garrett also had an outhouse (not a flush toilet) that was attached to the house, but you had to walk through the back room to get to it. Of course there wasn't any heat out there and you never wanted to take anything to read. It was cold in the winter, hot in the summer and of course had a very nasty odor... Grandma Garrett's last years were lived in a nursing home and she suffered from Alzheimer's. I can't remember how old she lived to be, but she was in her 90's and am so glad to have had a chance to know this remarkable lady and call her Grandma!
So, what event in your life brings back memories of a family member for you?
Happy Quilting, Sharon
"Quilting the Kaye Wood Way"
Permanent Certified Instructor since 2013
