It’s amazing – the small things that can trigger a memory! I opened up a Christmas card from a lady at work tonight – she had put a few goodies inside, among them, a spearmint chapstick. Instantly, I was taken years back – to time with my grandmother, whose signature lip balm of choice was spearmint chapstick. My Dad’s mom – she lived with us for several years around the time that I was 12 or so – about the age that my daughter is now. Our home had an apartment, and this was modified so she could navigate it with her arthritis. She was a very unique character (but we won’t go into a lot of that – we don’t have time!). Because she wasn’t able to move around much, she kept a large table covered in green felt next to her recliner, and this was where she kept everything she might need in the course of a day. She always wrote with a green fine tip pen, always used spearmint chapstick, and always had a knitting project at hand.
She loved The Price is Right and 100 Huntley Street. She had a TV in her apartment, and we didn’t have one, so it was a great treat to be allowed to go watch The Price is Right with her in the evening.
She introduced me to Gene Stratton-Porter and extolled the virtues of the McGuffey Readers.
From her, I learned to love day-old popcorn and Almond Roca.
I can still remember the smell of her apartment. Tonight, when I opened the spearmint chapstick, it brought so many memories flooding back.
She’s been gone for years. But tonight, when I smelled her again, it was like a present – a moment to remember my Grandma.
On the Other Hand.... 