Posted by Teri
Dear Grandma,
I know what unconditional love feels like because you gave so much of yourself to me.
I could count on the flowers in the yard, the vegetables in the garden, kitties in the basement, hay in the barn, pie in the oven and swimming in the neighbor’s pond after the day’s chores.
You took me blackberry picking. Told me stories about my grandpa and how he logged the land and how these spots were the best for berry growing. I put every berry in my coffee can so I would have a full can by the time your can was full. You taught me to bang my cans together to scare away the bears. I was never afraid because I was with my grandma.
There was always pie. I love pie. Today, when I make pies I think of you for many reasons. You shared memories, one being that syrup came in a round glass container, we now use as a pie dough roller. I have several and cannot pass one up at a second hand store. You gave me your pie plates so I could make pie and you shared your secret to making the best cherry pie (almond extract).
It was important to you to hold my babies and give me fearless advice on being a mother.
You taught me that making a crab salad was an art and that the right kind of lettuce mattered. Iceberg lettuce, boiled eggs, olives, celery, ripe tomatoes and Thousand Island dressing. I cannot eat crab salad without thinking of you.
You took me clam digging as a young girl. We slept in the back of the truck and cleaned clams for days. I took you back to Ocean Shores not long ago and we feasted on clams and salmon. You won $400 in the casino that now sits along our clam digging beach, no campground in sight, but, oh the memories we dreamed about together that weekend.
You showed me the strength that generations of woman embodied before me and that I was part of something that mattered.
Thank you Grandma for all you have given me. Most importantly allowing me to see myself through your eyes.
My Grandma
Lenora Alice Whitmore Carlson Larson
January 29, 1916 – August 19, 2011
