Thursday, September 11, 2008

"Grandma, Curb!"


I know many of you are remembering the many lives lost 7 years ago this day, and as much as I don't want to take away from that...I do want to remember somebody we lost 10 years ago today. My Grandmother, Helen Boyer. This was my mom's mom. She passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly, yet she has left me with so many happy memories that I just wanted to share with everyone!

My grandparents lived just about 5 minutes away from us for all of my childhood years. I can remember going over to their house after school, just to visit. She always had an entire cabinet full of the "good stuff." I don't even remember how this got started, but we would tell Grandma "I have a headache" and she would always direct us to the "goodie cabinet" for some pills. The pills were the little rolls of smarties candies. My grandmother also stocked her freezer full of my favorite treat which was icey o.j.'s. She would freeze cups of orange juice, and it wasn't just any orange juice...it was Tropicana orange juice, which was a luxury item in my house growing up. To this day, I will occasionally pour a cup of oj and stick it in the freezer, for a treat later on. My grandmother also would buy us a book each time she was out and about. My favorite series was Sweet Valley High...oh the memories are flooding back. I think Kimberly always got a Nancy Drew book, plus we always had a new Archie Comic Book to read. I still see those at the checkout counter at Publix and smile at the silly "jokes" that I learned from those books. O.k. O.k. here's one:

Jughead: Hey Arch, look at those bunches of cows.
Archie: No, herd
Jughead: Heard of what?
Archie: herd of cows.
Jughead: Sure, I've heard of cows.
Archie: NO! A cow herd.
Jughead: What do I care what a cow heard? I don't have any secrets from a cow!

Oh, come on people! That is great humor! To this day, whenever one of the kids says "hey look at those bunches of cows" I start in on the joke...I know Matthew has heard me say it enough times so he will usually say the parts with me. I knew there was a reason I loved that man! O.k. so I've digressed.

Another memory from my childhood with my Grandmother (and Grandfather too) was at their Lake House in Lake Wales. It was the coolest place. It was mainly dirt roads through this subdivision, but we would walk up to "Buck's Bayou" the local general store to buy us a bucket-o-bait. Then we would head back to Grandmas house to sit on the dock and catch fish! Now I don't think my sisters were quite the fishergal that I was...I could literally sit out there dawn to dusk, baitin' my hooks with those slimy little suckers and catching me some speck fish. Then, I'd take my catch in the house where Grandma would clean it up and fry up some of that goodness!

My Grandmother was also quite the funny lady. She had the best laugh in the world and would always have the most sincere laugh at all of our jokes (even the not-so-funny ones). One day Grandma was either picking us up from school or taking us to school and as she was driving through the car line, she hit the curb. She didn't just bump the curb, she drove up onto the curb and probably sent a few pedestrian flying for cover (ok maybe that is a little bit of an exaggeration), but anyways, I believe it might have been me that said: "uhhh Grandma? Curb!" From then on, all we'd say is "curb Grandma" whether we were anywhere near one or not and we would all just bust out laughing! Another funny story that I will always remember about Grandma, is known as the "Designated Driver" story. My Grandma was 99% of the time the designated driver when they would go out with friends since she didn't drink much. So this one particular time they were coming out of a restaurant and some of the people she was with had a few too many drinks and were acting a bit inebriated. So my grandmother started to "make fun" of them by showing them how they were acting...in the process she tripped/fell over a parking curb and broke her arm. We were so worried about her, but all she did was roar with laughter over the irony of it all. It was then we decided to keep her away from curbs of all kinds!

I know this has been a long post, and I appreciate all of you who read it even though you didn't know my grandma. She was a special lady who is sorely missed. I am thankful that my Mom shares so many of her wonderful qualities. And even though my kids never had the chance to know Grandma Boyer, they get to experience similar memories through my Mom.

Grandma, we love you and miss you. Thank you for the many years of special memories. There are so many more that would take years to write about!

4 comments:

Dani said...

This was a really long post for you, but I liked it. You should dig up some pictures and scan them in so we can see her.

His Mercy Endureth Forever said...

I'm waiting for Kelly to send me the one she has! Check back later!

Kelly Spezzano said...

I think Kimberly summed it up so perfectly tonight at dinner... Gramdma Boyer was the epitomy (sp?) of what stories and movies make Grandma's out to be!

I was thinking tonight about something else we used to say (in addition to "I have a headache") and I don't really remember how it got started either, but when we wanted a "special treat" (icey oj or candy from the "stash") we would ask Grandma if she had a "good idea" for us and she would say "I have a GREAT idea, why don't you get a ..."

Thank you, Kerry, for posting this!

Anonymous said...

What Grand Memories of a Grand Lady. I liked the theme of the Memorial Rememberance Dinner, "Spirit of Helen". She did have a special Spirit and she poured forth that spirit on everyone she met. You and Kimberly and Kelly all have that same spirit. I suspect that spirit is of the Lord but Grandma Boyer showed you guys how to exercise it. I loved her Spirit and I love yours.

Dad