What will your grandchildren remember about you?

Published 10:00 am Saturday, March 26, 2011

Column: Pat Mulso, Preserving the Past

How old were you when your grandparents died? What do you remember about them? Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, and my maternal grandmother died just two weeks after my birth. My paternal grandmother died when I was 7 years old, but as I began thinking about what I remember about her, I think it is quite a lot for the age I was at her death. She was average height with long gray hair that she always had pulled back in a bun on the back of her head. (I remember seeing my mother brush grandma’s hair at night a few times and I thought her hair looked like silk, so long, smooth and straight.) Now that I am older, I realize that my grandmother’s hair left her little choice in how she styled it, as she didn’t have time to be messing with her hair when she had six children to raise by herself.

I remember Grandma Kate peeling apples, baking her delicious sugar cookies and washing and ironing. She took in washing and ironing to help support herself and her family. We shared a house with my grandmother, she had a living room and kitchen on the main floor and so did my mom and dad. Grandma had a bedroom at the top of the stairs and the other three bedrooms were for our family. There were two doors that went to the stairs, one in her living room and one from ours. We did not go through the door in our living room to grandma’s house; we had to go to the outside door that went into her kitchen. My younger sister, Debbie and I would go to Grandma’s door and asked for a snack and she would give us either Oreo cookies or Mikesell potato chips in this little pan that was about 5 inches in diameter and we would sit on the step by her door and eat our snack and then return the pan to grandma.

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Grandma was diabetic, and I remember my mother giving Grandma her insulin shot every day. I don’t remember Grandma eating candy or sweets, but I do remember her eating jelly on her toast and she did not spread it on thinly as mother did for us, but she would put a big spoonful on her toast and eat it quickly before my mom or dad noticed.

When I was really small and grandma would watch us if mom and dad were gone, she would always tell us to put on our nighties and I would always say, “Grandma I wear pajamas not nighties.” She would never let us use scissors, not even the round-ended children’s scissors, and I never understood why until after Grandma had died and my mother explained that my dad’s oldest sister had fallen with a pair of scissors and cut her eye and was blind in that eye as a result of the accident.

Grandma always enjoyed having her family visit and had a curved glass china cabinet full of photos of her children, grandchildren and extended family. She had a piano, and I remember singing around the piano, but I don’t recall who was playing the piano. I remember wash day, and Grandma hanging the clothes out on the clothes lines. We would make tents out of the sheets and pretend we were having a party under them.

I remember Grandma falling in the woods behind our house by the creek, and my mom finding her. She had fallen in the poison ivy, and we had to have the doctor make a house call to check to make sure she didn’t have any other injuries and give her medicine for the poison ivy. Grandma made homemade soap and that was applied to the poison ivy rash to alleviate the itching.

I remember the party that was given in honor of Grandma’s 80th birthday. I was so excited and wanted to see all the family and friends that were coming to help us celebrate, but I didn’t get to attend because I got chicken pox and had to stay at my aunt and uncle’s house so I wouldn’t infect everyone attending. I was so disappointed!

As the years went by I remember the doctors making lots of home visits to check on my grandmother as her health began to decline. She had diabetes for many years, but they said she had a very strong heart. She had several strokes and was confined to bed, and my mother cared for her around the clock. We had two neighbors who would come and sit with Grandma at night sometimes, so my mom could get a few hours of sleep. Grandma went into a nursing home a few weeks before she died because my dad had been in a terrible accident, and my mom was going to have to care for him when he got out of the hospital. Grandma died before my dad was able to be up and around, so he was not able to attend his mother’s funeral.

Those are a few of my memories. What will your grandchildren remember about you? Have you taken time to play games, read to them or listen to their stories? What will stick in their minds 50 years after you are gone?

Please join us from 1 to 4 p.m. on April 2 at the Northbridge Mall for a “Taste of Heritage.” There will be displays, food, games and entertainment for the entire family. Visit the exhibits and learn about the different cultures that settled our county and new ones that are part of our society today.

Starting April 1 the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. During the winter we close at 4 p.m. So please stop by and see what’s new. If you have not signed up for our Genealogical Lecture Series give us a call and see if we have any seats available. Our phone number is 507-373-8003.

Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum in Albert Lea.