Today’s Homemaker

One of my closest friends just lost her grandfather (emphasis on the father, for her) Friday night, and it got me thinking about my own grandparents, who passed away several years ago. There are so many things I will remember them for, but the biggest one is the food that we had over at their house.

Now you’re expecting me to go on and on about homemade banana nut bread and apple pie, probably, but that just isn’t what I remember. I remember oatmeal pies (which we fondly referred to as “Little Debbies”) and cookies in a jar–both the creme filled chocolate and vanilla kinds (the Oreo look-alikes) and those little butter cookies that are shaped like flowers with a hole in the middle…in both plain and chocolate chip.

The only sandwiches we ever had over there were bologna and cheese or peanut butter and banana. The only ice cream they ever served was Neapolitan. My mamaw’s (that’s what we called her) favorite dish to make for Sunday dinner was salisbury steak from the freezer.

It’s funny how those things kind of make me sick to my stomach now, thinking about them. But back then, I loved those often-stale cookies. I thought my mamaw made the best darn bologna sandwiches in the world. I was always so excited about going over there, and I thought it was because of the different food we got to eat. But mostly, it was probably the people and the mountains and the chance to explore and make up scary stories about the things we didn’t understand about that ancient house and the land it sat on.

My friend remembers her grandfather for being a father to her “in every sense of the word that matters”. She remembers that whenever she was lost (no matter where she was), she could call him and he would tell her at once how to get back home. I’m sure there are thousands of other little things like that that she will never forget–we haven’t gotten to talk a whole lot about it, since she is still with her family–but it makes me happy that we get to keep the memories, and in a small way, the people that gave them to us.