As I get older I find I remind myself more and more of my grandmothers. I notice it in things I say, ways I act, and even when I look at myself in the mirror. I see faint reflections of my Grandma Brannan's deep set eyes. And I see my Grandma Smith's stubborn expression. It occurred to me the other day that perhaps they are beginning to come out so much in me at this age because my memories of them as a child were indeed my grandmothers at this age? I have no memories of them as young women.
Not long ago my grandson, Daniel, who is three years old, found an old picture of me dressed up like the Mother Mary holding one of my twin sons as baby Jesus. We were in the First Baptist Church Christmas play. The fact that I had twins made it easier because there were three or four shows which would have exhausted a tiny infant. Jacob and Caleb took turns.
So, Daniel sees this picture and asks me about the mommy and the baby. I told him that was CiCi and Uncle Jacob. He said, "That's not Cici. You not a Mommy. You're a Cici. That's not Uncle Jacob, that's a baby and a mommy." And there it was. Daniel and Liam will never see me as that young lady who did not have a grey hair or a line on my face. To them, I am not a Mommy. I am a CiCi.
My memories of my Grandma Smith were not much on cooking. At Christmas she dusted off her apron and dug out her big pot for chicken and dumplings. But in her day to day life in her mid-years she, like myself, was on some kind of adjusted diet to watch her weight. But one thing I found after she passed was that, like me, she saved recipes. She collected recipe books and wrote down recipes and clipped out recipes. I have talked to other friends who do the same thing even though they seldom cook.
As we were cleaning out the store, I came across yet another box of these clippings. It is a relaxing evening for me to sit down and go through these old notes she jotted down over the years. I even found on the back of one of the recipes a Christmas list she had started for Robin and me. She had written down our names under the word Christmas and then "radio headphones." I remembered these headphones back in the early 80's. They were huge and bright yellow. An antenna came out of one ear and the knob to adjust the station was on the other ear. And somehow recording on a recipe card a pie crust recipe that makes 5 crusts at one time she thought of us.
The Era-Leader prints family recipes in the Thanksgiving edition (November 15), and I plan to print some of these gems now shriveled on yellowed crinkled paper. Some are typed, some are hand written, and some are straight from the newspaper. I always have the best of intentions to make them all, but life happens and pants must be fit into.
My next column will contain some of these dessert favorites including the homemade pie crust, Bourbon Balls, Chocolate cake, Graham Cracker Fingers, and Blueberry Pound Cake. May the holiday season begin with food and festivities and sweet memories of those dear ladies who made life sweet.
