My Grandma And Grandpa's Visit

When I was younger we lived in the projects because we were poor. My father got hurt at work and couldn't work anymore. My mother was a stay-at home mom. We didn't have a car to go anywhere so people would come to visit us.

My most fondest memories were times spent with my Grandma and Grandpa. They were my mom's parents. They would come to visit use every Sunday for dinner. We use to love when they would come over to visit us.

Finally it was time for dinner. There were seven children, my parents and my Grandma and Grandpa sitting at the table.The table was crowd, to say the least. We would always start with a prayer and end with a prayer. Thanking God for the food we were about to receive. My parents were Catholic and they were very religious. To this day I do that still before ever meal.

There were many different conversations at the dinner table. But, my Grandma would always ask us,"So how are tootsies all doing in school. You are all very bright so I'm sure you are all doing fine."

"We are doing great Grandma. We want to make you, Grandpa, Mom and Dad proud of us."

"I'm very proud of all of you. It makes me so happy that all of you are doing so well in school and that you help your mother around the house. You are such great kids. I love all you tootsies."

"We love you and Grandpa and we just love we you come over and visit with us."

My Grandma would just get this great big grin on her face. She was so beautiful and had a smile you could never forget.

It was such a special time to be able to break bread with our Grandparents. And so many memories where created from them coming to visit us.

After dinner, we would retired into the living room. My Grandpa would sit in his usual chair. He had a cane and would always try and get us around our legs and pull us over to him. He would get a big chuckle out of that. My Grandma would sit on the couch. Grandma would say to me, "Come here tootsie let Grandma hold you for awhile." I was five years old at the time so it was so special to sit on my Grandma's lap. She would stroke my hair and give me gentle kisses on the cheek. I would just giggle because I loved when she would do that to me. I felt very special and very loved by my Grandma.

I remember sitting on my Grandma's lap, she was drinking her beer, I said, "Grandma can I have a taste of that?"

"Yes, tootsie, when I get to the bottom of the bottle you can have a sip."

I sat there in anticipating and just watched her drink it. I wondered in my mind what it was going to taste like. When she was finally done, she hand me the bottle. She said," Here you go tootsie, now you can have the rest." She gave me the bottle and then she gave me a kiss on the check.

I took the bottle and finished the suds of the beer. I must say it tasted awfully good. It was a real treat to be able to finish her beer suds.

When it was time for Grandma and Grandpa to leave, we all would get very sad. I would always say, "Please Grandma and Grandpa, don't leave, can't you live with us?" My Grandma would laugh and say,"Oh tootsie, we'll be back next Sunday and you can have my suds."

With much sadness, I replied,"Okay Grandma, I love you, Bye."

"I love you to tootsie, I will see you next Sunday. Bye." The she would always give me a tender kiss on my check and give me a chick-let. That was a special treat to get a piece of gum because we were poor and didn't get that sort of stuff from our parents. They were very strict on what they gave us to eat and plus we were poor. So very rarely did we get a treat, but when we did, we truly appreciated it.

I was so sad that they had to leave. I would cry for quite awhile after they left. My mom would just hold me and tell me, "Oh Honey, Grandma and Grandpa will be back next Sunday. Don't cry." She would stroke my hair and would just sit there and rock me. I would say to my mom, "Mommy, but I want Grandma and Grandpa to come and live with us. I love them and miss them. If they live with us I can see them every day."

"Honey, they have their own house that they live in, plus we don't have enough room for them to come and stay with us."

"You promise they will come again next Sunday, I miss them already."

"Yes Honey, I know you do. I promise they will come again next Sunday. Okay Sweetie?"

"Okay mommy."

Then she would give me the tightest hug and kiss me on the cheek and keep rocking me till I fell asleep.

Those are one of my most treasured moments with my Grandma and Grandpa. They are now in heaven, but I still have all those beautiful memories that I hold close and dear to my heart.