Special Memories...

: molasses cookies in an old ice cream container on the bottom shelf, just inside the kitchen door : standing on the heater with cold winter feet : swirling grape nut ice cream in a small dish with gold trim : homemade strawberry and raspberry jam on fresh white bread from the farm market : date squares in a scottish tin : the feeling of the upstairs front hall as I rummaged through old 'nancy drew' and 'hardy boys' books : exploring the 'el' with wonder : looking down the old well and thinking it was the most scariest thing ever : christmas eve gatherings : the 'good ham' and cheese : multi-colored christmas lights around the picture window and press on snowflakes all over the glass : round shortbread cookies with small pieces of red cherries : nanny's warm kitchen : the sound of the blue dishes rattling in the glass cabinet as i excitably hurried by : peppermints on the stereo : playing with nanny's yarn and knitting needles, determined to sew the perfect scarf : canadian living magazine : watching 'road to avonlea' on sunday evenings : the smell of the wood fire : the flower room : helping to set the dining room table, complete with pretty napkins sent from afar : peeking through the heater upstairs at the grown-ups down below : eating breakfast at the round table in the kitchen, nanny in her bathrobe, the birds at the feeder, just outside the window : picking raspberries in the warm sun, from nanny's raspberry bushes : playing badminton on the grass in my bare feet : swinging on the old red swing, across from nanny, pushing with our feet to keep us moving : all us kids piled on 'grandpa's swing' - you know the swing with the canopy - taking turns swinging us with the old smooth stick : snoozing on the couch with the blanket knit of brightly colored squares : watching from the living room window as family members' cars slow to turn into the 'century old farm' : the old barn : dad and the old outhouse : walks back through the field and old knoll - the cattle skulls in that one strange spot : warming my cold hands and mittens by the wood stove : nanny leaning against the wood stove chatting : piling wood : yummy chocolates at christmas : footstools : the wide stairs leading to the second floor : washing dishes with my sisters, nieces, cousins and aunts : the silver dish pan : cups of tea : doing homework on a sunday afternoon in the living room : nanny in her chair : the rocker in the kitchen and the calendar that hung behind it : the bottles of jam nanny would lay out for me to take home : the coins nanny would sneak us kids when grandpa wasn't looking : nanny's handwriting : nanny dressed for town - classy lady : that firm tone in nanny's voice when she would say 'ingram' : nanny sitting in the kitchen window when you pulled in the driveway : our wedding pictures : jesse singeing his tail from the heat of the wood stove :

Nanny may be gone but these sweet memories will live in my heart forever. I just hope that I can someday pass on some of this beautiful woman to my children, even if it just means making them their Great-grandmother's molasses cookies. I wish I could be at home with my family during this time. I miss you all and love you very much. xoxo