For some reason my thoughts lately have turned to my grandmother on my mom's side. I guess the season sometimes brings a little sadness to me because my grandmother died on Christmas Eve 16 years ago at the age of 69. That was a really sad time for me and my family. We were in Provo, Utah just about to head down to have Christmas with her. I miss her so much. I remember spending many of my Christmas's as a young child at her home in Cedar City, Utah. I remember that she had the most beautiful Christmas ornaments on her tree. There were always beautiful crystal looking ornaments and she usually had a smocked tree so it looked like it had just snowed on it. It always seemed to snow while we visited and my grandfather Don would always take us snowmobiling. I remember the hot chocolate that my grandmother would bring in her canteen so that we could warm up while we were out in the mountains. She had bad knees so she never actually joined us on the snowmobile but she was always there. Same thing when we went skiing. I often wonder if my love of the outdoors stems a little from my grandparents. They built a good sized log cabin up in the Cedar City Canyon and we spent many summers up there and would go often in the winter as long as the truck could make it up the mountain in the snow. I remember one time we got there and the cabin was snowed in so we had to shovel the snow away from the door just to get in. I was pretty young so I am sure I didn't help all that much but I still remember my older brothers with the big snow shovels.
I always considered my grandmother a very classy lady. She had beautiful fake nails and she always took me to get a manicure when I would visit her. She always did her hair real nice and she spent time doing her make-up. I still remember the three fold mirror that she used when applying her makeup. It had a light on it and one of the mirrors was magnified. As a little girl I could never figure out why she would want to use the magnified mirror. Grandma always took good care of her skin. She loved to take baths and would always put on this special cream on her arms and elbows every morning and every night. I remember it came in a little short jar and it was called Pacquins. She made sure to tell me to always cream my elbows so that they wouldn't get too dry. She always had nice jewelry and I remember her jewelry box sat on the wide dresser in the room I slept in. My room was the room right next to her room. I loved that room and I always felt so special sleeping there because it was my grandmother's special room decked out in beautiful shades of mauve with white lace curtains. Many of her treasures were in that room.
My grandmother had a love of cats and had three cats that I can remember of...Chinny, Midnight, and Spooks. My brother Greg and I always used to tease Chinny because she was kind of a stinker. Most of the time Grandma was so patient with us even though we were stinkers too. Every morning she would have her coffee. I remember the smell even though I don't really like the smell of coffee. The smell now reminds me of her and I just smile. Grandma also loved to play cards and we spent many nights playing hearts around her kitchen table.
My grandmother collected beautiful figurines that she kept in a glass case built in the wall in the front living room. We were only allowed to look and not touch those dolls. She also collected bears and she had those in the extra bedroom on the extension of the house. We were always free to play with them. She also had a nice collection of porcelain dolls, most of which she had spent time painting their faces. I guess I always knew she was talented but now I realize just how talented she was. I guess I have so many good memories of my grandmother because she spoiled me so much. With a house full of brothers I really was the prized possesion. To the detriment of my brothers I got to enjoy so much time with my grandmother. I loved our rides to St. George to go shopping. I remember sitting in the front seat of her car, chewing double mint gum which she always had in her purse. She would always give me just a half a piece of gum. When my grandma would drive she would shake her arms back and forth. I loved watching her arm fat jiggle and always liked to touch it. She was a good sport about it. I feel so blessed to have such good memories of my grandmother. I am comforted to know that someday I will get to be with her again. I am grateful to her for bringing my own mother into this world for whom I would be totally lost without.