We usually spend Memorial day cleaning out the garage or working in the yard but I wanted to do something more meaningful this year. I really wanted to show my kids where my grandparents were buried and pay respect to them. While I’ve never been a big grave visitor, I’m happy to know that they are in Heaven looking over us and not in the ground, I think it is important to teach my kids about remembering those who’ve passed on. I asked my parents if they wanted to join us and Chris and Amanda decided to come along too. My grandparents are both buried in San Gabriel which is where my Dad grew up, the day turned into a tour of Grampy’s life. We started our day at one of our favorite restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, Clearman’s Galley, more fondly known as “The Boat”. We enjoyed cheese bread, burgers, fries and my favorite Red Cabbage Salad.
Grampy actually had a tutoring appointment in Arcadia that day so we headed over to the Santa Anita Mall while we waited for him to finish. Libby enjoyed a ride on the double decker carousel. I’m simply amazed at how much this place has changed since I was a little girl.
After Grampy was finished we headed over to the San Gabriel Cemetery where my Grandpa and Grandma Jones are buried.
Mom made some of Grandma’s famous cookies, I can’t remember the name but the peanut butter cookies with a chocolate kiss in the middle. We ate them and each told a memory of them. I told about how I loved when I was growing up people always knew my Grandpa and had wonderful things to say about him. I knew I had a lot to live up to being his granddaughter and I stood a little taller because of it. I told about how my grandma Vera Jean was always planning something. She was a great even planner and had so many wonderful ideas always churning in her head. As she got closer to the end of her life I enjoyed visiting with her in Provo while I was at BYU. She was so tender and loving and cherished my time with her.
(Chris was there, he gladly volunteered to take the picture :)
After we left the cemetery the kids got in the car with Grammy and Grampy and we drove behind them. All the while we had them on speaker phone so we could hear my dad give his tour of his neighborhood. When I was a kid every once and a while my Dad would drive us out to San Gabriel and show us where he grew up. I never get tired of hearing his stories as he is such a great story teller. My kids got to enjoy hearing his stories and still talk about them. The house on the left is where my Dad grew up. When he was 12 his parents went on a Mission for our church and moved to Canada so they lived there for 3 years. When they returned they moved into the house next door on the right. My Dad told the kids about the elevator inside the white house and how my Grandma would dress up like a witch and stir her bubbling cauldron on their front porch every Halloween. He told the story of when he was home all alone a man tried to break in at the side window, all he could think to do was turn all the lights on and the man ran away.
We drove around his neighborhood and he showed us where his friends lived and where he would walk to school. I imagine it like a scene right out of the “Wonder Years”. He showed the kids where he went to school at Washington Elementary School. It was actually on Hermosa St., which is the same street our kids school is on!
He showed us the route he used to ride his bike to McDonalds where he’d whip out $1.25 and get a burger, fries and a milkshake. He drove us by his baseball field and his high school. The kids loved hearing about their Grampy’s life when he was their age. After a long day we drove home and ended up at Round Table Pizza still enjoying each others company. We had such a fun time, maybe we’ll make it a tradition.
No comments:
Post a Comment