I Want to Be a Grandma When I Grow Up

Not now, or any time soon… my kids are only 6 and 4! When the time is right, I want to embrace that role with open arms. I’m talking cotton dresses, lavender hand lotion, rocking chair….all of it.

My obsession with grandmothers has been lifelong. I was fortunate to have both of my beautiful grandmothers in my life and they definitely set the grandma bar very high. I had a Grandma and a “Mamaw”. Grandma lived up North and Mamaw was from the South. They were different but in so many ways the same. Both were strong women from a time that now seems to be lost.

When I think of my childhood, I think of swinging on a porch swing, homemade apple pies and I see my Grandma rocking in her chair with that old family Bible. I think of snapping beans with Mamaw and watching her sew. I can almost smell the dish soap on those soft old hands that comforted so many boo-boos. What I wouldn’t give to watch Mamaw kneading dough into homemade biscuits again and hear the whippoorwills calling at dusk from her front porch.

Those were the days when families could live near one another and cousins would play hide and go seek in the dark. We would chase fireflies and tell ghost stories on the front porch swing.

Those are memories I cherish so deeply. And those women were the heart of the family. When they both passed, it was like watching a fire burn out and everyone slowly scattered to the wind. I find myself at 33 feeling very grown up all of the sudden. I’m no one’s grandchild anymore.

When my last grandmother passed in the summer of 2014, I had them on my mind daily. Both of these women came from humble backgrounds when food was made from scratch and both lost young children to illness. Their quiet strength is something I am still amazed by. I hope and pray a little of it has rubbed off on me. I don’t want their memory to also drift away like the dandelions we used to blow into the breeze in Mamaw’s yard.

Life has its way of moving families far from one another these days and that is where we find ourselves and our little family of four. I love watching my children play with their cousins and spend time with their grandparents, although time with extended family is few and far between due to the distance.

So this week, I bought my first cast iron skillet and I got myself a nice rocking chair for my front porch. I opened the family recipe book and I’m going to try and carry on a little of those two wonderful ladies and give my own children and future grandchildren a little of their magic.

I know it will take me many years to refine my grandma skills but I’m committed to it. I think of the beautiful gift it will be to feel a little hand tug at the bottom of my cotton dress and hear little giggles from my front porch swing. It will mean I lived to be old and it will mean my life has been full of  love. I can’t imagine a future more grand.