SOLS #21: Picnics

Everyone should have grandparents to spoil them.  Grandparents always have time to just sit and enjoy our company.  I was lucky to have four amazing grandparents.  They were actually the perfect mix.  It was like I had the best of four worlds growing up.

It was obvious my grandma loved her role as grandma.  She'd had grandparents that were near and dear to her heart and she wanted the same for us.  When I was younger we would spend one week each summer with her.  She lived about an hour away so we'd jump in the car with our suitcases packed too excited to sit still.  I'd try to fall asleep as the time went much faster if I could.  I'd wake up and find us in the driveway.

There were so many fun things to do at Grandma's.  We would play games day and night.  Old Maid, Kings on the Corners, Thirty One, Aggravation and Spoons were among our favorites.  Grandma would play with us well into the evening.  Games always were full of laughter.  Every night Grandma would get tickled and start laughing.  Before we knew it her laughs turned into snorts.  Then we were all laughing uncontrollably.

Grandma was an amazing cook.  She rose early so we usually ate breakfast before eight o'clock.  She would make waffles or pancakes for us to devour.  Lunch soon followed and then dinner with more courses than I was used to eating.  After a couple of days I was quite sure I couldn't eat another bite, but who could resist Grandma's delicious cooking?

Most of all, I will remember my grandma for picnics.  Every morning she'd wake up early to pack her coca-cola cooler with peanut butter sandwiches with thick slices of butter, cheeses, some chips, and watermelon.  She'd pack the car with everything we'd need for our afternoon out.  We always looked forward to the treats that awaited us when it was time to eat.

Every day was a different adventure.  I didn't know it at the time, but Grandma was taking us to the places where her stories nestled close to her heart.  We'd go to Dawe's Arboretum where her favorite aunt and uncle used to live and take care of the land.  We'd go to Rising Park to climb the mountain (which as I've grown up I've discovered is hardly a hill) near where she lived.  Grandma would choose one of the hotter days to go to Buckeye Lake, close to her hometown, where we would swim and stop for ice-cream on the way home.

Everyone should have grandparents to spoil them.  Looking back I remember those times fondly.  Today, on my grandma's birthday, I smile to myself with the stories of the times we spent together nestled close to my heart.