Good Times

28. Nov, 2010 1 Comment

I had a bit of fun this weekend, scanning a bunch of old photos. You see, I have been pondering this question from that blog that I am so infatuated with:

“What is your most beloved childhood memory?”

I don’t have one specific incident that is most beloved, but I can tell you that most every childhood memory involves my Grandma Jean. Perhaps this has been occupying my thoughts because today is the first anniversary of her passing.

We were very close. One of my middle names is after her. I lived with her after my Grandpa went into hospice, and eventually passed – from the 5th grade till about the 10th grade. Even before then, I was her shadow, always with her and my Grandpa, but mostly her.

(notice what the shirt says>)

My favorite memories are of the times that the whole family – lots of aunts, uncles and cousins would pile into my Grandpa’s old Datsun truck and head out to Morris Point for a day at the beach.

(this is the Datsun!)

My Grandma would take the whole loaf of bread out of the bag to make sandwiches. I would beg her to only make tuna sandwiches because I hated egg salad sandwiches. After she made the sandwiches, she would put the whole loaf back in the bag to pack for the beach.

At the beach my uncles and cousins would go diving, and the rest of us would sit, swim and play on the beach.

Though we were all terribly sad at her passing, it was also the opportunity for all of us to come together again. By all of us I mean the families of her 9 children, the families her many brothers and sisters whom who also raised, endless nieces, nephews and others that she cared for.

(this is only like 1/8th of the family, maybe less)

In the days leading up to her service, the family piled into multiple vans and took a trip out to Morris Point, the very beach that we always went to.

The afternoon after her services, we all headed to the beach house and spent one last afternoon together, just enjoying each other’s company. We ate, sang, waded in the ocean, played beach baseball…