Juat fooling around with Bee said :No matter where your experience comes from with your grandparents allow yourself today to delve into your memories of your grandparents and let them come alive for us. Chose any way or form you like and I am looking forward to read your posts.
Grandparents
I only remember meeting one set of grandparents and on only one occaision. I believe it was my mother’s parents as we had gone to Oxford to see them. The house as I see it in my mind was dark, brown painwork and cream walls. No doubt all my brothers and sisters who are older than me will be throwing their hands up in shock but in all honesty that is the impression I have to this day.
Unfortunately for me the situation was going to get worse. I remember sitting on a chair and not being quite high enough to reach the table. The dinner was chicken, boiled chiken.To this day I hate boiled chicken, I did not want to eat it , I did not want to smell it….. I still don’t.
I cannot be sure but I think I got into big trouble for being naughty and not wanting to eat my dinner.Sadly that is the only memory I have of my real grandparents.
Luckily for me I have wonderful memories of Oxford. Aunty Glad and Uncle Jack, they were the grandparents to my cousin Lyndy ( who was actually my cousin’s daughter but I did not clock on to that until I was older). Uncle Jack was my Mothers brother he was a round and happy chap and Aunty Glad was a thin and wiry little lady. I remember there was always two weeks in the summer holidays when I was sent to stay with them all. I loved have my cousin on hand, Lyndy was an only child of a single Mum, and I was the youngest of six by ten years so we were almost both like only children, and so close in age ( My Mum having me in her late forties and my cousin having Lyndy when she was still very young. ) We had a whale of a time . I remember playing out late, something I could only do in the garden at home on my own but at Lyndy’s we played in the street and with her friends.
Aunty Glad had what seemed like a huge field of a garden with gooseberry bushes and rasberries and I remember helping Uncle Reg pick the fruit and preparing them in the kitchen with Aunty Glad! I loved sharing a room with Lyndy we used to talk and plan the next days excitement.
Lyndy use to spend the other two weeks of the holidays with me up in London. I know she loved staying with us in our small and often crowded house. I think Uncle Reg and Aunty Glad were more like grandparents to me because by the time I was able to apreciate them, all mine were dead.
Now my Mum also had two very good friends one of whom was Aunty Betty. A wonderful woman who never stopped talking at great speed. She was a tall woman and had a heart of gold. She was married to Uncle Dick who was a quiet man of medium stature. He too was lovely. My Mum and Aunty Betty where childhood friends and were bridesmaids to each other.
They had a huge house, they let one floor out to students from the Universities. I always remember there was a bathroom in the dinning room! Yes it was strange a huge wood and glass erection with curtains. The sides of the walls did not reach the ceiling …OH! it was strange! Aunty Betty taught me how to bake and make lemonade, knit and hundreds of other things.
I used to share a room at the top of the house with Aunty Betty’s only daughter who was ten years older than me and I thought she was so glamourous ( there hangs a story but not for now or even on this blog). The best thing about the room was the view from the window in the eves I could see all of the Oxford Spires and in late sun , moonlight or even sunrise they did glitter. Right in the centre of the view was Old Tom the bell tower. I loved to hear his chimes.
Sadly now Uncle Dick, Aunty Betty are long gone. Their Daughter is somewhere in America she cut herself off from us all.
My Mum was not very well when I was a child which one of the reasons for my Summer and Easter Holidays in Oxford. Mum was in hospital more than once and often during school time. Now I could not go to Oxford and miss school however much I would of liked to. So I went half a mile up the road and around the corner to stay with Aunty George! Her real name was Anne but for some reason she was called Aunty George. Now she and Mr George and their three grown up children lived in a beautiful house very similar to the one pictured here!
Whenever I had to stay there I slepped in the girls room and the girls who were in the upper and lower sixth at the school I was attending though I was in the junior part of the school, would take me to and from school on the bus!
Aunty George had a huge kitchen and a scullery, she even had a twintub washing machine! We did not have a washing machine of any type in our house. It was a lovely house and they were lovely people. I used to love going to church with the girls on Sunday. They were in the choir and I joined too. I loved to sing and to hear the two girls beautiful voices.
Memories, I may not of known my own grandparents but I had plenty of surrogates!
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Nearly Grandparent Haiku
Glad to help and teach
To step in and fill the breach
Loving memories
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Just a thought I pray I get the chance to be a good grandma to my Newbie
This is Just fooling around with Bee Idea for a February daily challenge! To suit her spoilt inner child…. and mine come to that so here we go! Hold on to your heart! Join in here
willowdot21 
