What did you learn from your grandparents that stuck? I saw this prompt somewhere and began to ask around. Everyone in the family had a response and we all had grandparents.
For me, it was advice from my grandmother when I was nine. One afternoon, I gave her a beautiful bouquet gathered in the Adirondack woods. “This is very pretty,” she said, “but you really shouldn’t pick Lady’s Slippers. They are special and rare and we should leave them alone.” I never picked another Lady’s Slipper and truth be told, now I only pick daisies.
My grandfather was a severe man. Very stark opinions on what was good and what was not. He took me berry picking one day, again in the Adirondacks, and told me to watch out for bears. Bears, he said, love berries. I tried to stick close to him, but he would have none of that. I picked alone and terrified. I knew there were bears around because we observed them at the dump, an activity that occupied many family outings in Old Forge.
My husband’s response was recalling his Pappy, who basically raised him and two of his brothers. Pappy was a baker and an ice cream maker and during the depression he had a front-porch shop. “Never,” he said, “reveal a secret ingredient or your exact recipe.” When I married in to the family, he divulged one of his secrets—a deep brown carmel mixture that could be added to sauces, gravies and other mixtures that needed a boost. I don’t have any secret ingredient right now, but it would be handy in my current covid-quest of the perfect ginger snap.
Hope, our daughter, learned from her grandad, my father, that it was perfectly polite to tip a bowl of melted ice cream up to your lips and slurp it. Soup or other liquids in bowls, however, were not to be slurped. I think Pappy would have agreed.
Jordan, our son, found that I, his mom, did not know everything in the world and that grandparents could reveal sweet secrets. Like most new moms, it was hard for me to let him go off with his grandparents for the first time, especially since we lived in Washington, DC, and my parents had no sense of direction. After an hour or two, they returned safe and sound. Jordan was the lead, excited and sporting a snowsuit covered in powdered sugar. “Mom,” he said joyfully, “ “Have you ever heard of donuts?” He’s been curious about the outside world ever since, and he still loves donuts.
Our very blonde daughter-in-law got the following advice from her Gran—always wear sun-screen. Wise advice, for sure. For my generation, which tried hard to be tan, there was iodine and baby oil and tinfoil screens. Now we all use sun-screen and you know why.
I still eat berries, fear bears, and hardly ever eat donuts. I slurp when I feel like it and wish I could see some Lady’s Slippers.
To date, I think our three-year-old grandson may have learned one thing from me: Never, ever kiss an alligator. Breaking the mold, every time.
Readers: what have you learned from your grandparents that stuck? Please share.
Floridawoman 