Kima was a very talented hairdresser, seamstress and cook. You may remember her Melt-away Cookies that I shared with you over the holidays. She was also known for her Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Catfish... yum! The holidays she created for us were filled with rich and fattening southern inspired foods.
Her home was warm and comfortable. While she never had any toys for us to play with she did have a basement beauty shop we loved to explore. Plus she was the "stuff" collector for the Elk's Club's annual rummage sale; so the basement was filled amazing treasures! Antique exercise equipment; like this crazy contraption with a belt you'd just wrap around your waist/hips/butt/ and turn on. Supposedly it'd vibrate the fat off you! We used to love to stand with the belt strapped in place shaking ourselves sick. Grandma also used to save her Elk's club variety show outfits for me for dress up, and let me have her out of style costume jewelry to play with. I felt like a princess many a time all made up, looking at myself in her dressing table mirror.
As a small girl I'd sit on her lap and admire her jewelry; she always wore a gold Charm bracelet, a pearl and diamond watch and several large cocktail rings, even when she was just sitting around in her house dress. She was ultra glamorous; smelling of Estee' and cigarettes she would show up to our backyard childhood birthday parties in her satin dresses with bleached blond hair and red lips.
It was after I had graduated from High School that she started to loose her memory, and years after that before she started to forget who I was. I had moved away to Arizona by then and we could still talk on the phone about her older memories; but she wasn't really sure who I was. After I moved back to Illinois I would visit her in the nursing home and she would not remember me unless I showed her a photo of me at age 4. She'd say "oh, I loved her! She was my favorite!"
I think of my Grandmother often, and I miss her very much.
Sarah and Kima, 1999This photo of us was taken at the Nursing Home she lived at during the final years of her life. She would ask to wear this Red Elk's Club jacket every day, and still carried her purse everywhere she went. I keep this framed photo in my workshop.
10 comments:
What a nice entry! Beautiful picture too!
Gina K>
It's nice to see that someone cared so much about another person that even after they are gone their memory lives on.And you have some beautiful memories of your grandmother so never let them fade
Sarah, what a touching and heartfelt tribute to your grandma. She sounds like an amazing lady and I can see why you miss her very much.
Oh Sarah, this is beautiful. I am not a mushy sentimental type person, but you had me crying! It is nice to have such happy memories of your loved ones.
What beautiful memories of your Grandma. I especially loved her response to the picture of you as a child! How special that must be to you!
What precious memories you have of your Grandma. I especially loved her response when she saw the picture of you as a child. That must make you feel very special!
What a wonderful tribute to your Grandma!!
I'm going to have to try those cookies. What a thought- she may be gone, but via a simple recipie you're spreading a touch of the joy she gave you around the world
Ta da! http://corvustristis.livejournal.com/7137.html
Unfortunately, I can't see the picture right now. But I have the same feelings about my Grandmother who has passed on a few years ago. I miss her so much. Little things bring thoughts of her to my head...and they come at times when I least expect it. It's great that we have such love for our friends and family. But boy does it cut like a knife when we lose those loved ones!
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