Proud Blonde!

Grandpa’s affectionate house,
Full of daring adventure and fun obstacles,
The perfect place to watch olden day movies,
Or base camp for expeditions in the tiny hamlet.

Grandpa’s warm house,
Surrounded by ancient spruce trees,
A huge yard to play and rest,
And big white sheds full of old yard tools.

Grandpa’s inviting house,
Sneaking candy from the old glass treasure chest,
Snooping through Grandma’s endless antiques,
Reflecting on yellowed family pictures in dusty frames.

Grandpa’s friendly house,
Playing cards, although we know we are going to loose,
Helping cook and having the most fun eating it,
And never forgetting those Sunday evening wiener roasts.

Grandpa’s loving house,
A place to learn and laugh,
Sharing memories of the past and dreams for the future,
Hoping to cherish our time together, forever.

Once, long ago when I was just little, my cousins and I went on a walk with my Grandma. It was right after a heavy rainstorm and there was puddles everywhere. My cousins and I were splashing each other in the puddles when, to our surprise, our Grandma joined us. Smoke in one hand, drink in the other she was a sight to see.

By the time we were halfway across Clandonald, everyone was soaked, dripping with muddy, murky water. For one last joke before we headed back to Grandma’s house, we decided it would be funny to push Grandma in the biggest puddle we could find.

Not realizing it then, but reflecting on it now, seeing my Grandma laughing with her gentle eyes, and smiling with her vivid smile that could light up a dungeon was so precious. Jokingly complaining about her wet smokes and muddy drink she was the funniest grandma ever! Her dark, grey-streaked hair full of mud, tiny petite feet splashing in the water, and a face that could make anyone smile, would be marked in my memory forever.

My Aunty Joy is an unpleasable Chucky Doll. She has fiery vermilion hair and stentorious eagle eyes. She is like Samara Morgan off of the horror movie, The Ring. So when Aunty Joy was visiting for a week, the whole family was preparing for a volcanoe eruption!

For our Wilkinson Family reunion, my Aunty Joy and Uncle Jim brought their 29 foot Jaco fifth-wheel. Since my Aunty Cindy and Uncle Peter’s lawn is the size of the Grand Canyon, Aunty Joy and Uncle Jim parked their fifth-wheel there. Aunty Joy loves to cook, so she was going to cook for our family in my Aunty Cindy’s kitchen.

At 3 o’clock in the morning of one cold, damp night, my cousin Tara, Peter and Cindy’s daughter, heard someone in the kitchen. When she got up, she was as shocked as being stung by a taser gun to find Aunty Joy cooking Mexican Chicken Chili and throwing out their utensils like Roy Halladay pitching 100 mph fastballs! Aunty Joy, who looked like a charging wild bull at the Spanish Bull Run, yelled at Tara that it was “preposterous to eat with bent, scratched, old, or even slightly rusted utensils.”

The next morning, Tara told my Aunty Cindy about what had happened the previous night. Aunty Cindy was just as flummoxed and mad as Tara when she found out. Then, Tara and Aunty Cindy had to pick out the bent, scratched, old, and rusted utensils from the garbage. When Aunty Joy came in the house and saw this, she was as mad as bull seeing red. Then Aunty Joy gave Aunty Cindy and Tara the silent treatment for the rest of the week.