Mahatma Gandhi
THERE IS NOTHING STRONGER IN THE WORLD THAN GENTLENESS.
Han Suylin
I had to talk to my gentle little Abby the other night. Evidently no one is discussing my situation with her, and she was very worried about me. I think she pictured me lying weakly in bed, a thin, shriveled up version of my former self, perhaps even spitting up blood or something. She couldn't wrap her mind around what cancer meant has far as it happening to her Gramma "Jean". I think she was relieved to learn that things are going along well, and I am still doing the things that I have always done. It's not been that long since I've seen her so she must have thought I went downhill rapidly. LOL I told her I will have her and Cate over for a week-end visit very soon. I like talking to the girls. They have very interesting minds and amaze me about some of the things they are thinking. I like being their grandma.
Of MY two grandmothers, Grandma Fare was an especially quiet, gentle lady, and we didn't get to see her too often. On the other hand, my Grandma Paul just lived down the road at the next farm. It took me about five minutes to walk over to her house. She was quite the boisterous woman who was big-busted, big-hearted, and laughed a "big" laugh. Something I just recently learned about Grandma Paul -- that she was the go-to person when it came to the elite families in Cedar Rapids concerning their eggs and chickens. Yup, Grandma was the egg-and-chicken lady to the Hall family at Brucemore, and their society friends. She was extremely careful about "candle-ing" her eggs and making sure they were immaculate, and she fed her chickens something extra that made them big and meaty. One perk us grandkids got, was that with every bag of chicken feed, there was a small packet enclosed which held a real "diamond" ring. Each of us granddaughters couldn't wait for our turn to get that big, beautiful, gaudy, fake ring. What fun! Another good thing was that the feed bags were made out of a coarse cotton, and Grandma would carefully select bags with the same design of fabric, so Mother and Aunt Kate would have enough of the same pattern to sew up shorts and tops for us girls. Talk about recycling! (Gosh, just re-reading that last bit, makes me realize how OLD I really am!)
Anyhoo, to finish the chicken-and-egg tale, Grandma would squirrel away her earnings from the poultry business all year long. THEN, before Christmas, she would have Aunt Kate take her to Armstrong's (a big department store that used to be downtown in Cedar Rapids, and was considered one of the better stores to shop at). The salespeople would see Grandma coming and set out a comfortable, overstuffed chair. There she would sit, with her dress hat and gloves on, and direct everyone to bring her selections to look at, and to purchase for the entire family. She was shopping for 60+ people and she liked to buy nice things, so the salesclerks really earned their money the day Mrs. Paul came to town.
To sum it up, Grandma Paul was boisterous, fun, hard working, and yet so very gentle in so many thoughtful ways. It guess there is more than one form of "gentleness".
NOTE: Some of my friends say that they like to read the blog as they drink their morning coffee. Sometimes I take my time writing this, so sorry if you've already drank your java! (I mean YOU, Betty C. and Sandy R.) I also understand that some others of you check it out in the morning - Tina, Sister Sandy, even Trevor's mom (sorry, I can't recall your name at the moment). Have a great day and stay warm.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL