Today, I was able to make some more tiles for my project. I made two name tiles, because I couldn't fit my grandmother's entire name on only one tile, even though I tried. My grandma had a beautiful garden. It was full of irises, snapdragons, hollyhocks, and roses. She seemed to have a way with flowers. There was a mint green trellis at the front of the house. I would have liked to make some flower tiles. The name tiles include a rose, and a fern image. In her living room, for many years, she had an old fashioned wooden fern stand.
The Telephone:
Alberta loved to talk on the phone. Despite living in a small town, with friends and relatives around her, just down the street, she talked to them all every day on the telephone. She had a small 1950's telephone table near the front door. She would sit there, laughing and talking. Her legs were always crossed, and she bounced the top leg repeatedly, lifting her foot rhythmically as she gossiped. Around the house, my grandma always wore housecoats, aprons, keds, and nylon stockings which rolled up around her calves. She developed her fashion sense during the roaring twenties, when silk stockings were rolled, and she continued on to carry out that trend. When she talked on the phone, she was always cheerful. Her laugh made the callers feel good. Just hearing it, as I eavesdropped, made me feel good, too.
The Suitcase:
When I was 7 years old, I decided to bring my cassette tape recorder from California, so that I could record the life stories of both of my grandparents. I had no prompts or questions, my intent was to record my grandma on one side of the cassette, and my grandpa on the other side. My grandma finished reviewing important life events after a brisk 20 minutes. My grandpa took her half of the tape, and the entire other side, to discuss WWI. He was shot during the war, and described the circumstances in extreme detail. Alberta was eavesdropping on his tales, and kept yelling from the kitchen for him to hurry up and move through his life story. You can still hear her on the tape, contradicting him, and nagging. I think it's one of the best parts of the tape.
During her life story, Alberta shared, through tears, her desire to attend college. She stressed the importance of schooling, and education. She described packing up her suitcase, so that she could attend college. Her bag was ready, she had been accepted, and had registered. Alberta was ready. But, she learned that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. With tears in her eyes, she described the heartache that came from having to take her suitcase back into the bedroom, to unpack her belongings. Her greatest dream was to become a school teacher. Although she was unable to fulfill this wish with college, later in her life, she was able to educate her son who had Down Syndrome.
Alberta was a gifted teacher. When I visited, she tried to instruct me on how to sew, and how to embroider. I was terrible. So, she moved on to teaching me how to crochet. That was also too difficult for me. So, like any good teacher, she scaled it back. She brought out a plastic grid, and taught me how to sew yarn in a pattern onto the grid. She wanted me to feel successful, and she wanted me to understand the importance of making and creating.
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