Cookie Jar Memories

My Grandma passed away earlier this morning, and I haven't really had time to process it.  We close on  my husband's house tomorrow, and we move out on Saturday.  I've been busy running around the house cleaning and packing, and, like I said, I haven't really had time to process it.

A few years ago when my Grandpa passed, I offered to write up his obituary because I was so close to him.  Therefore, my family asked me if I would write Grandma's as well.  I suppose it makes sense for me to write it, as I was an English teacher in a 'former life'.

When I think of my Grandma I'll remember:

*Staying at their house when my Mom/Dad would go on trips and sleeping in my Dad's old twin bed with a half railing frame around it, so a child wouldn't roll out.  I remember waking up at night scared of the Grandfather clock my Grandpa built chiming in the middle of the night.

*Watching Grandma scrape the butter off of the butter wrapper with a knife whenever she would open a new stick of butter because she was so frugal.

*Picking some of her outdoor flowers for her when I was about 4-5 and bringing them inside to her.  I thought she would be pleased and put them in a vase, but she scolded me for picking her flowers! lol

*I remember she wouldn't let us eat any snacks because it would "ruin our supper", even if the only snacks were carrot or celery sticks.

*I remember my brother and I would always try to lead Grandma into a conversation that would make her say "wash" because she would pronounce it "waRsh".  We would say something like, "Grandma are you going to wash the dishes after supper?", and she would reply, "Well, of course I'm going to warsh them after dinner.  Who in the world do you think would clean them otherwise?"  We would giggle ourselves silly over it.

*Additionally, we would crack up whenever she would say "Hells Bells" or "Quit fiddle farting around!"  Two of her FAVORITE expressions....

*My brother and I were always amused that she would call the trash can a "wastepaper basket".

Canning Jars

*I always remember her canning fruit or vegetables.  She would be shelling walnuts from the woods, snapping beans, shelling peas, or making jellys/jams.

*She would scold my brother and I whenever we would try to sneak down into the basement to watch Grandpa do woodworking because she was afraid we would get hurt.

*I remember thinking that the floor in her kitchen would be cleaner to eat off of than the table in my own home because she always kept everything so tidy.

*I'll remember the buttery soft and crisp peanut butter cookies she would make.  She would store them in her antique jars.  One jar was labeled "Cookies" on the front, and Grandpa would always steal one out and give it to me whenever I was crying (I was so young that I don't remember).  Grandpa stated at my Bridal Shower that the 'Cookie Jars' would go to me when she passed away because her memory of me was linked to them.