Happy Birthday Grandma Angle

Today would have my Grandma Angle's 86th Birthday, a little over 23 years ago, she started celebrating those in Heaven. When I think about that I was only lucky enough to have her for not quite 19 years, it seems sort of sad. But I will say that in those years, my Grandmother was a big influence in my life.

I think about her when I am listening to my beloved St. Louis Cardinals on the radio. I think about her when I am making sweet tea. When I am watching kids play sports and MIGHT be one of the louder ones hollering for them. :) I think about her when my kids are playing ball in the yard. When I am going up and down stairs doing laundry. When I am making gravy. When we sing In the Garden at church and about million other times.

My Grandmother had 5 kids, my dad was the second oldest. There are 9 of us first cousins. I was the only Grand-daughter. 5 of the 9 us lived with Grandma (or she did us, however you want to say that) at different points in our lives.

She and my cousins Stephen and Jeff lived with us one summer, I look back and think that if she hadn't ran such a tight ship, I can't imagine how things would have gotten done. 7 people under one roof! With one full-sized bathroom. I remember she shuffled us kids through the showers throughout the day...........did umpteen loads of laundry in the basement. We vacuumed the carpeted stairs twice I week I think. All four of us kids played ball. Can you imagine what a busy place our house was that summer? Actually I can, at least sort of since until 2 yrs ago, we only had one bathroom with 6 people...............all of my kids are in activities, thankfully the only activity that they are ALL in at the same time is cattle showing and they all go the same place together for that!

We had a big garden and memories of canning lots of stuff is a vivid one from that summer, but in hindsight, feeding 4 kids, two of them teenage boys...........I am sure that the garden helped the grocery bill. We cooked, we cleaned, we listened to Cardinal Baseball. Grandma loved to listen to Jack Buck call the game. One thing we didn't agree on was TV.............I watched Days of our Lives on NBC................she watched CBS soaps, it was a problem, LOL Actually my best friend, who's grandmother lived next door also watched another channel, but we could get our channel to come in with a black and white tv that had 'rabbit ears' on it in her grandpa's shop, so I survived! :)

I am lucky enough to have some things that were my Grandmother's. Among them are her china, some of her pans from when she ran a restaurant, some Angels that she sat out at Christmas, plus many other items who's only value is purely sentimental and a lifetime of memories. For that today, I am thankful.

Running my busy household and thinking of those who went before me who did the same thing and appreciating their influence in my life on this Thankful Thursday,

From Tulip~

KH

:)