Saturday, February 18, 2012

Memries

I've been phoning my Buby (my maternal grandmother) more often since my Zaidy died.  Her short-term memory is a bit random, but she's still plenty lucid enough to carry on a conversation.  I tell her stories about what I've been up to lately, and because she's always been a bit agoraphobic it doesn't take much to impress and entertain her.  She's never owned a cordless phone or an electric typewriter.  There has never been a microwave oven or a CD player in her home.   Computers mystify her completely.

I've decided that I need to encourage her to tell me stories about her past.  I'd like to learn as much of her history as I can before it's too late.  During our last phone call, I found out that when my Zaidy's parents (my great-grandparents) were alive, they always had a dog in the house.  Whenever one dog died, they'd get a new dog.  All the dogs were named John.

I thought that was a pretty good story.

Buby used to look after me when I was very small, when my mom was a single mom.  If I had a stomach-ache or a cold and couldn't go to daycare or kindergarten, my mom would drop me off at Buby's house.  Buby would entertain me with her collection of Superballs, which she kept in a kitchen drawer.  She had them in different sizes and colours.  My favourite was a clear one filled with sparkly rainbow flecks.  We also used to play a Jewish card game called Pisha Payshe.

Whenever I see my Buby, there's a very good chance that she'll tell the story of The Night She Lost Me.  I've heard that story many times recently.  It goes like this:

"You were sleeping over at our house.  You were only 4 or 5 years old.  I put you to bed and tucked you in.  Later I went to look in on you, and you weren't in the bed.  I thought you must have gone to the washroom, but when I went down the hall to check you weren't there.  I started to get worried.  I told your Zaidy 'I can't find Spark!'  We looked all over the house for you.  You weren't anywhere to be found.  We got very worried.  But the doors were locked so there was no way you could have gotten out of the house.  Finally I went back into Auntie N's old room where I had put you to sleep, and I noticed a little foot sticking out from under the bed.  I looked down, and there you were, under the bed, fast asleep.  We picked you up very carefully, and put you back into bed, and tucked you in, and you never even woke up."

I can't imagine sleeping through the experience of falling out of bed onto a hardwood floor, but there you have it.  That's a pretty good story too.

8 comments:

Lynn said...

Those are great memories and I am glad you are writing them down. I love that they named all their dogs John. :)

DarcKnyt said...

You know, you're right...those are both really good stories.

This post reminded me of a Friday Flash short I was going to write but never had the chance. Thanks!

Warped Mind of Ron said...

Good stuff. My mother and her sister used to get together and tell stories all the time. Sadly I didn't write them down and they are lost to history now...

Granny Annie said...

Oh yes, collect those stories. I visited my maternal grandmother weekly and took my tape recorder. She would prepare for our talks and tell me her memories. Those tapes are so valuable to our family. I only wish I had done the same thing with my mother. She never shared stories of her growing up.

LL Cool Joe said...

What a great story, yeah. I'm just wondering how you managed to sleep under the bed and not be aware of it at all. :D

Tracy Moore said...

What a sweet post. Holding onto those memories and stories is great. One of my personal favorites from my past is with my maternal grandmother. She had me come to her house every week when The Lawrence Welk Show was on...I know anyway...she would let me pick out any dress and pair of shoes from her closet. Then she would put makeup on me and we would dance together for the whole hour of the show. Afterward she would serve me tea in a little brown teapot which her family had brought with them from the Czech Republic. I still have that little teapot and smile every time I see it. Thanks for writing this post and sharing your memories and helping me to remember mine!

Jameil said...

clear ones filled with sparkly rainbow flecks are awesome!! i interviewed my grandma several times in the last year. i still need more! i love hearing about people i'm related to but i've never met. maybe you crawled under there for an adventure and fell asleep? either way, so cute! :)

DarcsFalcon said...

Those are awesome stories Spark! I'm so glad you still have the chance, and the smarts, to take advantage of the gift you've been given. :)

My best to your Buby!