Those were the days

Today Jonathan and I went to a nearby outlet mall. The outlet mall is in the town where both sets of my grandparents lived. Mom's folks lived there longer than Dads and actually settled there b/f Dad's folks.

It has been about 2 years since I have been there. As I pulled into the small town the memories overwhelmed me. I spent so many summers there and weekends and wow, I couldn't believe it had been so long. I remember the big family bashes at Gpa K's house. He had a horse and so much land. We got together w/all my aunts, uncles, cousins and 2nd cousins. It was so much fun! I swear I thought that house was huge! It doesn't appear to be as big as I remember...

I swear I remember that front porch being HUGE! I mean really, I use to play "Mother May I" on it w/my cousins! We use to stay there but Gpa died when I was about 4 so I don't remember him much. I think Gma lived there for a while w/o him but I don't know for sure. She then moved up by us.

My moms parents lived down the road. I took Jonathan to the cemetery to see the grave but it was so overgrown that it broke my heart.

I told my mom that we would go back out there soon and trim up that bush. I can not believe that so much of my family lives in walking distance of the graveyard and can not do this! It pisses me off actually. My mom lives 45 min away and was ALWAYS the one to take Gma to her appts and help her out when she was sick. And now we are the ones that have to take care of their grave site. It's okay. It was well worth the drive.

I was so overwhelmed w/ memories that I cried many times while I was there. I remembered how much I HATED the 45 min drive out there and how I was ALWAYS so bored. Now I long for one of those family drives and get togethers and Gma R or K's. It was all so easy for me then and so innocent. I actually use to see my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. My Grandmothers were the glue that held our families together. Grandma R was with us the longest and I remember her the most. I blogged about her before. I am so much like her but not near as strong. LOL

My grandmothers were so different...Gma R was stern, didn't show emotions and never rocked the boat. Gma K was lighthearted, showed her love and told it like it was. Both had strong faith and strong family values.

I hope Jonathan has similar memories w/my parents.