Image by Ivy's World
Dear Galoshes,
Most all of my childhood memories will be of visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. I very much enjoy the time I am able to spend at their house. I am very attached to the little tins and what-nots Grandma has for me to bake with. We make lots of delicious cookies and pies, cut fresh rhubarb from her garden then eat it raw dipped in sugar. I put on her favorite music just so she will dance around the kitchen to me, it's quite amusing and makes me feel good to see her dance in her apron and socks.
Every day when I wake up from spending the night at her house I hear the sounds of Grandpa whistling and the smell of toast and English muffins in the toaster. It is quite different from waking up at home. At home I listen for my father to leave for the day before I get out of my bed, I dread the weekends as it means he will be around regardless of how long I stay in the safety of my bedroom. At the Johnson's I'm quick to jump out of bed and give grandpa a hug and smile. He is always so happy to see me and grandma offers me a choice of breads from the toaster with my favorite home made jams or cinnamon sugar. What I would give to have one of those mornings back again.
Love,
MaryJanes
That is so sweet. It reminds me of the Summers I spent with my grandparents. Such sweet memories I have of mine.
ReplyDeleteI wish that you had the same sweet memories with your father. You two ladies deserved much better I am sure.
-Julie
~Julie & Any other young mother that might be reading along,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read MJ's "Childhood Memories" it gave me such a mixture of emotions. My first emotion was that I knew that those times with her grandparents were wonderful for her. She was given such a rare treat with this set of grandparents. On the other hand, my own mother was a wonderful grandmother, but had to walk on egg shells with my own father. In his world children are to be "seen and not heard". So the amount of time that MJ spent at their house was limited. My parents have been divorced and my mother had the chance to be a constant role in the raising of my brother's children which where that last to be born of my siblings. She now also is an active part of MJ's 3 children's lives.
Then on the second part of her letter she talks about waiting for her own father to leave the house before rising from bed. And how she jumped out of bed at the sound of her Grandpa's whistling. Looking back, I was so focused on keeping my family together and hanging on the notion of the "someday he will grown up' that I was blind to the fact that my child was feeling such pain and stress. I over compensated every where in her life that I could, to try to make up for his short comings. I could only see a bright future and did not notice the dark cloud over her head.
So, if there is a young woman/man out there that is waiting and holding out for their spouse to "change" move on. You life is Now!
Learn from my mistakes on this topic and know that if I had it all to do again, I would have taken full custody of MJ and made a life for us without her father. I would not have wasted any time waiting for him to change, because he never did.
I am so sorry MJ that I did not have the wisdom to make the changes in our lives to give you the happy home that you deserved. For this, I will bear the weight of for the remainder of my life.
Love, ~Galoshes
Hindsight is 20-20 and wisdom comes with experience...I am sure you did the best you knew, Galoshes! So nice that you have good memories with your grandparents MJ...
ReplyDeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! It meant so much to me!
After generations {my grandmother, my mother and myself} of selecting poor male spouses as well as fathers to our children, MJ has finally broken this family tradition. She has stopped this family cycle and selected a stable and loving husband as well as an excellent father for their children. So it is my hopes that my own granddaughter won't need the hindsight and will choose wisely by selection of a good role model!
~Galoshes