Becoming: A Trip down Memory Lane to Grandma Irvin's House

We would all pile into the family mini van, usually on our way out of town. We could never leave without making a visit to our Great Grandma Irvin's house. With both sides of the family living only a couple of miles away from one another in the small town of Farmington New Mexico, our trips were always jam packed. As the car slowed to a stop the seatbelts came flying off and we stumbled out of the car, usually exhausted and arguing with one another.

Standing at the front door to greet us was my Great Grandma Irvin with her face wrinkled into a smile. She gave the tightest hugs; my face crushed into her chest and scraped against her glasses that dangled from a chain around her neck. We were invited in to her small entry area where she hung dozens of photos with nothing but love and a little scotch tape. "This is your Uncle Sam's daughter, Angie, and her two babies and aren't they just getting so big!" "Uncle Robert come down the other day to see me and he brought me . . ." her voice trailed off into the Living area as we all made our way to the sofas.

     My Grandpa Buck sat in the recliner chair next to the window.  He'd lean forward to hug me and my face pressed against the rigid edges of the wallet that he kept in the pocket of his shirt. I'd glance at the old box TV that sat lifeless on the floor. I can never remember a time that it was on or in working condition. Grandma always got out her old marble game and set it on the floor for us kids to occupy ourselves while the adults circulated around the room to look at all of the new photos that Grandma had received. As I got older I joined the parade around the room. The photos were both old and new, framed and unframed, some even leaned up against the frame or were inserted into the outside lip of the frame. Some were labeled correctly and some were not. Some of the great-grandkids were even placed with the wrong parent or family grouping. We smiled to ourselves and overlooked the mistakes. Grandma was so proud of her family, of that there was no doubt.
    Updates from the family and old stories filled the air as my siblings and I shuffled through the glass candy dish next to Grandpa. He always smiled at me out of the corner of his eye while I separated all of the strawberry candies from the butter scotches and the mints. Among my favorite memories of Grandma's stories is the way that she would laugh when she remembered the year that there was a fire in her house and she moved the family into the chicken coup until they could afford the repairs. She laughed and smiled as if it weren't a tragedy at all but a sweet memory of happy times.
     Grandma's pantry was always filled with all of the things that a kid could dream of, however, most of them were stale. Her refrigerator held flat soda pop and we drank it through a straw. We would eventually make our way out to the backyard. There was always a cool breeze and metal chairs with rust spots. I can remember bird feeders and tomatoe plants.
     Of course our trip would not be complete without a trip down to Grandma's cellar. She had Grandpa dig a whole in the ground under their bedroom closet. She removed a piece of carpet from the closet floor and there was a hatch and a ladder that lead to the celler. The dirt floor was cool and it always smelled of a musty clay. There were shelves full of canned foods. Grandma had an impressive amount of food storage but it paled in comparrison to the chambers that held it.
     Our visit always ended with a tear in Grandma's eye and a "You come see me soon!" or "You comin' to the reunion this summer?" She really was the quentessential Grandma. As I got older I came to understand a little more about my Grandma. She was always going to lunch with a friend or working at the Family History Center. She lived her entire life in her own home, she took pride in doing things for herself, and she maintained her positive energy until the end of her life. She had a love for life and a love of her family that is unmatched. I hope to be just like her. Love you Grandma. Miss you!