emma's birthday

Today is my grandmother's birthday. She died back in January of 1992 at the age of 88. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother -- a couple of weeks every summer. We would walk downtown to go grocery shopping together. People would stop us on the sidewalk and say to my grandmother, "Oh, this must be Arlene's little girl." It made me feel pretty special. I loved to help her out in the garden, or with the laundry. She still had one of those wringer washers. I also spent some time learning to paint on cloth and cross stith. I cross-stitched two pillow cases one year, and made a set of dish towels for my "Hope Chest."

I didn't have a "Hope Chest." I knew what it was, though. It was a place where you put all the things you were preparing for when you would be married. Considering that I was in about the 5th grade when I made those dish towels, I was thinking about getting married for a long time!

Back in the 5th grade, when life was simpler, I thought I would get married and have children. I was sure that my husband would agree with me that our daughter's name would be "Emma." It's funny how life turns out so differently than we have planned.

My grandmother was the soul of fairness. She loved all of us equally. She never played favorites. I tried -- I would ask her, "Grandma, do you think I'm pretty?" and she would answer, "I think all of my grandchildren are goodlooking." or, "Grandma, do you think I'm smart?" "All of my grandchildren do well in school." She was a farmer's daughter and a farmer's wife -- and a farmer's mother as well. She loved hearing and singing hymns. She didn't travel very much. She liked to be busy. She worried too much. She never learned to drive.

Happy birthday, Emma!