I love thinking back on the many times our family drove to Grandma M's house. I remember driving quite far to get to her little town, then looking out the car window as we passed all the old houses. Grandpa J lives down that street. Aunt Rosemary lives there. Further on we round the corner where Cousin Richard got hit by the car, but was okay. I can still imagine I'm riding down the long back country road with black berry bushes and wild apple trees here and there. Over the bridge now; the barking dogs, from the house that sits near the river, run so close to our car. If I was brave enough to open the window, I could touch them. Then turning onto the long, bumpy, salmon berry and redcap lined road that led twisting and turning to Grandma's house where lots of uncles, aunts and cousins would be waiting and arriving. We drove that road so many times I can almost drive up it in my mind and remember every detail. I remember it's many turns, the small roads that turn off and go somewhere else on the mountain, the low rock that was left embedded deep in the ground that we had to drive around as we turned the corner near a small bank that was dug into to make the road a little more level , the huckleberry bushes that grew out of the stumps, the tall trees every where, the pump house off to the left as we got closer to Grandma's house, and the rope swing up the steep slope to the right as we pulled into Grandma's driveway.We spent good times with Grandma and our family there. We would sing while some of the uncle's and my dad would play the guitar. Kids would dance around in the middle of the room with lots of laughter and happy chatting from the aunts, Grandma and some uncles filling the house. Sometimes the uncles would make a run to the store and come back with lots of food for all of us to eat. If Grandma needed something fixed around the house every one would help or gather around the ones working and talk happily with each other. I remember when my dad and the uncles put in stepping stones for Grandma from her driveway to the house. It looked very nice and gave her a dry path to walk on when it was a rainy day. Sometimes we walked around the back of the house. The power lines made their buzzing sound, the grass was tall, and there was a large shed quite far away with hundreds of trees, bushes, wild blackberry patches, and the green underbrush I love so much stretching for miles. I remember for a while Grandma had a mule on the hill in front of the house, and that I was always just a little bit afraid that a wild animal might be lurking over a hill or in the bushes. After spending a fun filled day it would be time to go home. The uncles would always carry us kids to our car. I wonder if they remember doing that. It was such fun for us.
Tomorrow is Christmas, and we are planing a trip to my mom and dad's house. I hope my children enjoy visiting their grandparents as much as I did mine. I hope one day they will look back with fond memories and tell their children of the special times they spent at Grandma's house.
