my grandma had the most beautiful handwriting. i saved all of her letters and cards - even the ones that just reported the kind of weather she was having - because her script was a wonder.

(gg wrote this card to lucy when she was 92 years old)

my grandma spent hours and hours with my brother and me in and out of her pool in fresno. we began with red arm floaties when we were really little and got to the point where we could dive into the deep end and touch the bottom. she always got in. when we’d had enough, she would bundle us up in big towels, tuck us into her lap and read to us in the lounge chairs. or we would go into the cool, dark of the house and have lunch at her round, wooden table. there was a collection of bird paintings on the wall and she would tell us about the different kinds of songs the birds sang. i especially remember staring at the red ones.

(all of us in the pool… i think i look sour because i had to stop playing in order to pose for this photo… gg was never sour)

(the red birds from gg’s house)

in the pool shed there was a weight reducing machine. it had a big canvas band that you were meant to put around your bum and when you turned the machine on the band would vibrate and supposedly shake off your excess. we loved playing in that machine and my grandma would stand in the shed with her hands on her hips and giggle and giggle while we shook.

my grandma planned all kinds of activities when we came to visit… a big road trip to the ozark mountains with our cousins where we learned about the stalactites in the limestone caves there, outdoor evening musicals with picnics that she packed - i adored “calamity jane,” museums that catered to our interests: the negro league baseball museum in kansas city for my brother, the american jazz museum in kansas for my first husband, the lego center and a goat farm in kansas city for my children.

(getting ready to leave for the ozarks with my grandparents and my cousins)

(gg and the kids at the goat farm)

my grandma always stocked up on apple jacks before our visits. this was super exciting because we didn’t have sugar cereal at home. she also made bright red jell-o molds with thick whip cream on top… they were delicious. she DID put raisins in my oatmeal when i was about six which prompted a life long aversion to brown, dried fruit in me, but i forgive her that… no one is perfect.

my grandma was full of grace and kindness, but she also had a grand sense of humor. when we visited her in her new apartment in lenexa, i thought we’d have dinner in the dining hall and meet the other residents. she dismissed that idea with a wave of her hand and a wink, “oh let’s go out… some of them are a bit funny.” we went to dairy queen instead. and the next day we tried the famous jack stack barbecue ribs with onion rings the size of donuts. the kids and i still talk about those cornmeal crusted rings.

my grandma was always singing. she would put “the sound of music” on the record player and cuddle us while singing along to “edelweiss” or “my favorite things.” she had a very pretty voice.

my grandma laughed all the time. she got such a kick out of us and all the kids in her neighborhood. her shoulders would go up and down and she would really get into a chuckle. it sounded like jingle bells.