I am fortunate.  I grew up a mere mile from my maternal grandparents.  They were ever present in my childhood and a huge influence in my life.  These pics are somewhat about my grandparents and somewhat about their place.  Their house was nothing special compared to others but it surely means a lot to me.

We didn’t have lots when we were growing up but my Mom and Grandma made these halloween costumes for my brother and me out of paper bags.  I remember going to Jamesway (a local precursor to Wal Mart) the next town over to get bags that would fit.  I remember walking around to find paints and my mom and grandma working to get our costumes ready for Halloween.  We always colored Easter eggs together…I can even still smell my Grandma’s kitchen as she canned pickles.

You can see in the background the 1960s set of encyclopedias that my brother and I studied and studied.  It was our outlet to the world.  Every time we visited, we pulled out one of the volumes and just started reading…we went to the moon and under the sea and around the world in those books.  It was our ticket to everywhere!

I only vaguely remember my great-Grandma Gardner but I am pictured with her here.  Across the road from my Grandparents’ house was the tastee-freeze.  On every visit, she would slowly walk back to her room at my Grandparents’ house to get a dollar for me and my brother to get ice cream.  It was the best ice cream on Earth (trust me…I loooked it up in the encyclopedias!)

I grew up in NW PA where the snow comes off Lake Erie by the bushel.  When I was younger, everyone had snowmobiles.  My Grandparents, like everyone, had snowmobiles.  I don’t honestly know if I ever rode their machines, but I remember the wonderful stories of their riding on the land behind them.  I remember walking in the woods with my Dad and Grandpa and seeing birds and trees and magnificent piles of deer poop.  Nature was everywhere in these woods.

There’s almost nothing as good as looking at pictures of “back home”.  With the current uncertainty in the world today, I am certainly glad to have so many wonderful memories to hold on to.  Welcome to my “back home”.

disclaimer:  I am under the weather so I am actively participating in my own recovery plan.  Any resemblance between these stories and real life people or events is merely a coincidence