I was just reading on a forum about aprons and patterns and someone posted a picture of an apron pattern book her daughter found in her grandmother's steamer trunk. Here's what she said that set me off on my reminiscent tangent...
"Isnt that just adorable??? I know I am getting a little carried away with it but it is just so special to me. AND best thing...it smells just like my granny's house. All I could do was hold it to my face and smile. There are aprons to be made..."
So I have this old trunk, it's dark and made of metal and wood with leather handles on the sides. The metal has this beautiful scrolling flower pattern on it. It sits in my family room with a vintage table cloth draped over it and a lamp on top. Every once-in-awhile I open up the trunk. There's a wooden tray in the top that comes out, and underneath are the wonderful quilts I inherited along with the trunk. One is lavender and is tied rather than stitched. The other is yellow and just beautiful with all of the many pieces of fabrics that were most-likely dresses and clothing worn by family members of whoever made it. When you open the lid of the trunk, there's a bit of that old musty smell that you smell in museums and old basements. But when you pull out the quilts, they smell like my Grandma Frame. So I close my eyes and remember...
Grandma Frame was not my biological grandmother, she was the mother of my step-dad who married my mom when I was 5 years old. She never treated me as if I weren't a part of the "Frame family", and she taught me a lot of things.
Grandma was a piano teacher, and it was from her that I learned to play. She would make me practice 30 minutes every day, which bugged me at the time but I'm ever so grateful for it now. She could play the piano like you wouldn't believe. Her fingers just flew over the keys, even when her arthritis was bothering here. She would play "Eidleweiss Glide" and "Woodland Echoes" and my cousins and I would dance around the livingroom to the music. Sometimes, if were were lucky, she'd pull out this beautiful pink dress she'd made as a girl for a school program and let us take turns wearing it while she played. I have that dress also...it's made of fuschia colored cheese cloth with tissue paper flowers sewn onto it. It's not nearly as "vogue" as we thought it was when we were little girls, but it's still so very special to pull it out and look at it and think of those great times. Now, my daughter sees it and wants to try it on...I think she may be old enough to be careful and not rip it soon.
Grandma was a seamstress, and it was from her that I learned to sew. From the very first year she knew me, she made clothes for me. The first dress I remember her making was a pink gingham Easter dress that went to my ankles. It was sleeveless, and she made my mom a matching dress. The next year, Mom was pregnant with my little brother, and she still made us matching dresses. Mine was pink and hers was blue. She made me skirts and vests, and even a beautiful plaid taffeta dress for Christmas one year. Thanks to Grandma, I made my own wedding gown. And thanks to Grandma, I can sew clothes for my own daughter, as well as many other items. She also taught me how to embroider and do latchhook rugs, along with many other creative/crafty things.
Grandma was a cook, and it was partially from her that I learned to bake and cook almost anything that I can imagine. My first memory of cooking was with Grandma Corky, my mom's mother, she let me help make scrambled eggs. But, Grandma Frame could make anything taste good and nothing ever went to waste. She made the prettiest gingerbread church, yummy candies and cookies, and all sorts of cakes and pies. She could fry chicken better that Colonel Sanders, and she could even make bologna "salad" sandwiches taste good. She canned everything my grandpa grew in the garden, and her homemade icecream was to die for. Thanks to Grandma, my kids eat a variety of foods and love almost everything I make. My husband touts my meatloaf as being better than his grandma's...and that says a lot! She taught me a love of providing delicious and nutritious meals for my family, and it's because of her that I absolutely love making Thanksgiving dinner as my own tradition, along with making a variety of Christmas cookies and goodies every year.
Grandma was frugal, and I learned how to "waste not, want not" thanks to her. When Grandma died, she lived in a small 2 bedroom home...a far cry from the spacious 5 bedroom home she lived in for years prior, which also had a full basement. We were amazed at how much stuff she had neatly tucked away in that tiny home. She was organized and still saved a lot of items for reuse that most people would toss in the garbage these days. She married Grandpa at the beginning of the Depression, they were homesteaders in New Mexico, and they had 5 children. She couldn't afford not to be frugal and resourceful. Thanks to her example, I've been able to make ends meet at times when it was next to impossible.
All of the things above are great, but the best thing about my Grandma is that she loved the Lord and used her talents for Him. Thanks to her, I learned to be willing to let God use me also. She sang in the choir and played the piano at church. She helped people no matter what the sacrifice might be to her. She prayed before every meal, along with Grandpa, and read her Bible and prayed every day. I also have her Bible, and it's amazing how worn and loved it is...it's barely held together by tape, so I keep it safely put away.
My Grandma Frame was precious to me, and she taught me so much about life and living it to the fullest. She taught me about sacrifice and giving of yourself for the well-being of others. Her white hair, smiling eyes and quiet demeanor were always a comfort to be around. Everyone loved going to Grandma's house, and we had family reunions and get-togethers there several times a year. The first time my husband met her, we counted over 100 people entered her home at one point or another over the course of just a day or two.
I realized this evening, as I was reading on the forum I mentioned, that it's been 10 years since Grandma passed away on October 31st. Our family was planning to go to her home for Thanksgiving that year, so we did. But it just wasn't the same without Grandma there, putting everyone to work peeling potatoes, setting the table and washing the dishes after dinner, that became my job. My children will never personally know how wonderful of a woman she was, but her legacy lives on in me, and hopefully I can instill just a portion of what she taught me into their lives. Elisabeth is expressing desires to learn to play piano and also to sew, and those are two things I can pass on to her...and in that way, along with so many others, we can always remember Ruth Mabel Frame.
