Bea and Port

PROMPT:

Yesterday was grandparent's day. What do you like/remember about your grandparents?

RESPONSE:



I knew both sets of grandparents, but will only write about the paternal. When I think of grandparents, most of memories are concrete; it wasn't concepts that they taught me that most remain; it was the things they made. My Grandparents Richardson were very production-oriented people. (My father's birth certificate lists the occupations of his parents: housewife and laborer. )

Grandma's cooking was what I liked best: sausage circles, toast with grape jelly, apricot nectar. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and walnut halves. Citrus sponge cake and lemon/pineapple/banana jello with a frosted top.

Grandpa was the woodshop man who made us toys: a table, a range, a cupboard and counter, a cradle, and a toy box in the shape of a train.

The things Grandma and Grandpa made form my argument from design: they are real, and I believe, even in their ornery ways, they loved us.