Grandparent memories 


When we weren't at the creek or avoiding the outhouse, we spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house.  My paternal grandfather was semi-retired to Owensville where he was a minister at St. Peter's church.  (That's right- my dad is a minister, his dad was a minister, my mom's dad was a minister, my dad's grandfather was a minister, and of my dad's nine uncles, there were eight ministers and one psychiatrist who said it was his job to take care of all those crazy ministers).

My grandparent's lived in, what else, a parsonage.  My great-grandmother (my dad's mom's mom) also lived there. She was a little scary because she was so old!   There were lot's of Victorian antiques, and some of my dad's toys, too. I wish we still had those! The room that my sister and I slept in , had an antique picture of some very stern-looking ancestors.   I thought they would come out to haunt us if we didn't behave, so for us anyway, we didn't act up at bedtime.  My brother slept in a tiny room at the top of the stairs, so the tiny bedroom curse obviously followed him there. 

This is me at my grandparent's parsonage. Loved that dog!!

The other thing that terrified me about that house, was the railroad tracks that ran behind it.  I screamed and cried every time a train came by,  and I remember wondering why everyone else did not understand that the train was going to ram into the house at any minute.  Didn't they know that we were all likely to die? 

The train of doom did not keep me from playing in the park next door to the house.  It was an old fashioned playground with a now obsolete merry-go-round and one of the metal slides that would burn your butt off in the summer.  I also remember the seesaw. My sister was standing up in the center to balance it, when lost HER balance and landed, crotch first, on the metal bar.  I think she lost her virginity that day!  Remember the stress reaction of fight/flight/freeze?  That is the one and only time I have ever had a freeze reaction.  Beth kept yelling at me to run for help, and I remember thinking that I should go, but just couldn't move.  She must have thought I lost my mind!

I loved to go to grandma and grandpas house at Christmas because we used to get a brown paper bag filled with candy. (CANDY!!) It had those chocolate cream domes and an orange, and that yummy ribbon candy.  I think it must have been some sort of law that  little country churches to give the kids that specific mix of candy in a brown paper bag at Christmas!  The only bad memory I have is when my sister puked on my doll on the trip to Owensville.

My sister got carsick almost every time we took a rode trip.  That year I really, really, really wanted a Dancerina doll for my birthday.  She was a blond doll in a pink tutu with a plastic crown on her had.  If you held her crown, she would spin around in a pirouette!  I'm sure she was not cheap, but my parents got it for my birthday.  Mind you, my birthday is December 15, so she was pretty new on Christmas.  I took her on the trip to Owensville, and Beth got sick in the car, of course.  My recollection is that she specifically leaned over on my side so she wouldn't get puke on her side.  By doing so, she puked all over my brand new Dancerina doll!  My mom and my Grandma spent most of that day cleaning her up and fixing her hair.  She still worked, but her hair was never the same.  Good thing I could console myself with chocolate cream domes and ribbon candy!

Just as an aside, I recently was in an antique store and found a Dancerina doll in the original box!  Everything in that particular part of the store was 50% off so she cost a whopping $15!  So now I have a un-puked on Dancerina doll sitting in my closet.  I promise not to take her on any road trips with my sister!