Her name was Florence.Florence Genevive (Turner) Bryant.
I never met Grandma Bryant.
She died on Feb. 19, 1964 and I was born three months later in May.
I always have speculated that my bent toward the melancholy comes from being in the womb and absorbing the sorrow of my mom grieving for the loss of her mom.
Mom told be about her own February once.
We were on the way home from dialysis and she said it was snowing like this on the day her mom died.
I asked her when it was.
She said it was in February.
I asked if she knew it was coming.
She said that Grandma had been in the TB ward and Grandma Fern had visited and somehow knew that it would be soon.
I took a deep breath and asked her...how did you get thru it?
She said her famous line...you just do...one day at a time.
I held back the tears and gave a little sigh.
She gave me a sideways "it will be alright" smile.
The next February it was my turn.
I wish I had more memories and I wish I had asked more questions.
Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me a few of yours.
3 comments:
What a great picture. She looks a lot like my Grandma (Evia) Adams. One day at a time is the only way we know. Any further than that is just too much.
Wow, that is a great picture. I don't remember ever seeing that one. I can't say as though I have seen many natural pictures of Grandma Bryant.
There sure are a lot of similarities between her and Aunt Mary, not only in looks but in her mannerism, her melancholy nature and her overall personality.
My favorite memory of Grandma Bryant was going to spend the night at her house with Elden and Dick, fishing and playing in the ditch by her house. Grandma would always set us up with sticks with a heavy string tied to them, and safety pins for hooks, along with hot dogs, chicken gizzards, bacon, or whatever kind of meat she could find left over in the fridge and send us off on our fishing trips. Believe it or not at times we would actually catch/snag a bullhead once in a while. It was great fun to spend the night at Grandma’s house, and as I remember it the Sugar Cookies were the best I’ve ever had.
I too loved spending the night at Grandma Bryant's. I loved her little house with the red geraniums in the window. I can still hear the sound of the screen door slamming shut on the back porch. I remember the last time I saw her--she was standing on the porch in the dark early one morning waving goodbye to us as we headed back to Washington. She always had chocolate covered graham crackers in her cookie jar when we came to visit. I also remember the fishing trips in the creek with the home-made fishing poles, the safety pins and the bacon from breakfast. She had a large tomato patch and canned tomatoes every summer. She had a cookie tin that held a child sized tea set that she would let us play with. I remember that one year she came to Washington on the train and stayed about a month. She made doll cloths for me--hand stitched. I was so proud of those doll clothes. I don't really remember conversations with her but I do remember that she worried a lot--especially about Wes and Elden. I remember my mom always telling her that things were going to be okay and she didn't need to worry about things. I with Mike in that my mom reminds of me of her at times.
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