by Margaret Folley

Created on: March 13, 2009

I remember going to grandma's house which was a trip we rarely got to make.Since she lived so far from us,she lived in a town called Pigeon Forge Tennessee.Which was about thirty two miles, but might as well been a hundred for we never owned a car.But sometimes a relitive would come and give us all a ride to grandma's.Piegon Forge is now a tourist town ,but then was not so big and crowded, I remember there was a hardware store ,a few shops on the lane to grandma's.She had a home up above the old mill,which now is the center of the tourist attractions there.I loved going, there was so much to see. My uncle and aunt also lived with my grandmother and they took us fishing down at the river which ran by the mill. I loved watching the big wheel of the mill turning in the water,and the water fall.After fishing and catching our fair share we packed up the gear and headed back to grandma's house.I recall the great aroma of food from the kitchen as we entered the door.Was a heavenly smell and i was vamished.

My grandmother was a small fragile woman,she wore her hair in a bun on the back of her head.She always dressed in long dresses and an apron and wore a bonnet.I declare she was the image of the wild west women,the ones on the wagon trains and wild west shows.With her mild and sweet manners,but she could be very strict too.And she did not believe in wasting anything, she saved every little thing from buttons to thread.I can just hear her as she'd say who knows that might come in handy some day.She even made her own brooms that she swept the wooden floors with.

Grandmother had a screened in porch,thats where she stored her brooms,and dried her garden produce and some she dried for seeds for the next years plantings.I can recall seeing,onions,peppers,garlic and all the dried things hanging all over the walls there.She never had a refrigerator so she canned meats, and lots of her food. She had to store it that way so as not to loose it.

The aroma is stronger now comming from that kitchen,and I was starving.W ondering when will we eat our supper.Just then grandma came through the door looking so sweet and gentle,come now she said wash up it's time for supper.I hurried to the wash basin I wasn't gonna miss grandma's great smelling food.The table was over flowing with meat, vegetables and lots of sweets too. We all ate untill our hearts were content.Was a lovely time, then everyone retired to the sitting room where we sat and enjoyed the news about all the family.

I never knew much about my grandfather, since he had passed away when I was only five years old.So I enjoyed the tales she told of him.My uncle told of the turkey shoots he had attended.He always won, so grandma always had turkey on Thanksgiving Day.L ong after I was married and my grandmother had passed away My mom and dad took me up to the mountains near Smokey Mountains to see the old home place where my mom had lived as a child.It was an old cabin, looking near despair but was still standing.We went in and wandered through the rooms.Some of my uncle's drawings were still hanging there on the wall.They were pictures of cowboys he had drawn. He was good at it too.It was a talent he had.He too is no longer with us and I miss him a lot .But all the memories and love we shared at my grandma's will forever live in my heart.

Learn more about this author, Margaret Folley.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.