Thanksgivings and holidays bring fond memories of our ‘angel’ Grandma Lillie.
Since the U.S. Thanksgiving has just passed by, I’m filled with memories of early years in California and each year I am pulled by two dates for this holiday in Canada and the U.S. Mom was Canadian and Dad, American and until we moved to Canada fully in 1971 we visited B.C. annually since birth, specifically Clearwater and the North Thompson Valley.
Both countries holidays tug at my heart each year. Some happy and comforting memories of my childhood are from my early years of Thanksgivings in California with our Grandparents - the majority due to our amazing Grandma Lillie. You see our mother was "sick" and mainly in and out of a "special hospital" for about the first eight years of my life. Our dad was a newspaper editor for a large Southern California newspaper, and he worked very hard to pay for mom's care as nothing was subsidized in those days at all.
Our grandma, dad's mother, was always there for us as such a positive, fun, steadfast, and warmly affectionate person we felt so safe with.
Grandma was a folksy poet who always had a pencil and paper by her bed. She never wore a pair of pants or slacks in her life! She'd never gone swimming - not ever but loved to watch us swim now and then. She never drank a cup of coffee saying, "it's not my cup of tea" and laughing at her own joke.
She wore a fresh cotton colourful house dress with an apron every day at home but when she went to town or church, she'd get dressed up in one of her many"fancy go to town" dresses. Her closet was one of my hiding places. There was a light with a long string inside so once inside that dark cozy, safe place I would reach up to finally find the light string and my world became a place smelling of rose powder, grandpa's Old Spice and so many dresses and suits, purses, shoes and hats.
On Thanksgiving, grandma and grandpa's house smelled delicious, like pumpkin pie, turkey, stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, tweety bird molasses and sugar cookies. There was always a Hawaiian salad on special occasions (mainly fruit and whipped cream with coconut), fresh biscuits with mashed potatoes and gravy. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was all about ‘Christmas is coming’ knowing who we would see as a surprise at the end of the parade yelling “Ho – Ho – Ho!”
There was only one TV in most houses back then (in ancient times) and even though there were football games televised on Thanksgiving somehow, we also always watched “Miracle on 34th Street,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” during the holidays. It was a tradition.
A significant memory around holidays at Grandma and Grandpa's was that the men always did the dishes after big family meals. There would be the family men, all dressed up in white shirts, ties and slacks wearing Grandma's frilly aprons and washing the dishes together. Grandma would play the piano (she played by ear remarkably) or harmonica tapping her foot in time.
I've been reading her diaries again and in the one marked 1971 she speaks of how much she missed us when we moved to Canada and wished we hadn't left California. I cried reading this again, but she then shared sweet things about our two younger cousins as babies and I can tell they were experiencing Grandma's love just as we had.
She'd wipe her eyes under her glasses with her apron, with tears of laughter as she watched cartoons with us, with such pure joy, We watched with somber intent and she'd chide us saying, "Now don't you kids think that's funny? Don't be so serious! That's why we call them 'the funnies'! Makes me smile to think of it.
She had a grandkids kiss, only for us. Kissing loudly on both cheeks with our face in her hands. Grandma was a whiz at cards, games and would, "beat the pants off" pretty near anyone in Scrabble.
Today I'm remembering these far-off Thanksgivings as we anticipate Christmas once again with new memories coming to fill our hearts as we’ve just welcomed grandbaby (a boy) #10 this past week.
Grandma, Lillie Haynes lived till she was 98 years old and cooking and baking right till she left for what she called "those pearly gates!" She looked like Mrs. Santa Claus and to us kids she was our angel on earth. She said, "I'll leave when I've stopped learning here and go on to learn in a new place!"
So much to be thankful for. Wishing you and yours many joyous new memories to keep tucked in your heart always, however you choose to spend the holidays.
