Grandpap’s Rocking Chair

grandpaps rocking chair

I wonder if my boys (or maybe my grandchildren if I am blessed with them someday) will have something of mine that will bring as sweet of memories as Grandpap’s Rocking Chair does for me?

Do you have any thing(s) like that?

This beautiful chair, that grandma refinished and varnished to a S-H-I-N-E, is now safely preserved in one of our guest bedrooms, but oh the memories it evokes of evenings spent on Grandpap’s lap watching his favorite show together – Lawrence Welk.

I’m surely showing my 51 years of age.  Who else remembers:  “Uh oneah and uh twouh and a three…. ?” as good ole’ Lawrence swung his magical musical baton….

or the polkas, the accordians, the singers, and the dancers.

What shows will our children and grandchildren remember like that?

The Housewives of New Jersey?

The Bachelorette?

Yikes!

Grandpap was a very gifted musician.  Oh if I only would have gleaned even a drop of that talent, but despite a stint at clarinet lessons, and even shorter stint of piano lessons, and don’t even ask me to sing (even though I love to 🙂 ), it is lost on me.

Grandpap died when I was only 10 years old, but I smile thinking of him.  I can vividly picture him shaving his 5 o’clock shadow in the deliberate and methodical way he did twice every day with his bristly lathery brush in the basement sink…

I can still hear him saying, “Grandma’s gonna gimme the dickens!” every time he took us to Kerber’s Dairy and bought us double dipped ice cream cones taller than we were, which he helped keep from dripping all over the car by taking turns licking around my brother, Johnny’s, and mine one after the other, but we still ended up dripping it all over ourselves…

And I can still taste the Coffee Soup he so loved that was made out of saltine crackers and coffee with lots of cream.

grandmas cup

Another very treasured item I have, but one I DO USE –  probably EVERY single day – is Grandma’s tin measuring cup.

Of all her treasures we divided up when she died, I longed to have this and her recipes the most.

Marty has even had to repair this by re-securing the handle, but I love how it allows me to fondly remember her when I measure a cup of rice for dinner or a cup of flour when baking.

path

What tangible things will our children and grandchildren hold dear that evoke such fond memories of us?

The sweetest ones usually come from the simplest of things we don’t even realize….

as we travel through this journey of life.

Hope your day is memorable…

at Life in Between.


Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

3 thoughts on “Grandpap’s Rocking Chair

  1. Oh my dear Jodi, this is what my year is about—-REFLECTION. Indeed this is a wonderful reflection for sure. I love the tributes to Aunt Stella and Uncle Charlie. I love those “special things” saved and preserved with such loving care. For those who take the time, it is a physical, kinda “living” tribute to those loved ones who have passed. I have a soup ladle my mom used—think of her whenever I use it, a mirror in my daughter’s home, anniversary present to my mom and dad, etc. You touched my heart strings with this blog—ahh sweet memories and of course nostalgia at it’s best. In this small way, these special people live on in our soul. Love your blog.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Pingback: Happy National “Sorry Charlie” Day | life in between

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