DOUGH

The Kitchen Closet

Soft flabby arms, like the dough to make Kuggle ( like coffee cake) or cinnamon buns

those arms mushed repeatedly by us, her grandchildren

that scent spread through the hallway all the way to her apartment

inside a tiny kitchen, a cooking closet

yet what transpired was the most delicious warm juicy Kuggle

 

We called her Gram, puffy cheeks, slights rounded nose

glasses were frame less and she was short and bit pudgy

yet possessed the loudest laugh in the whole family

 

She spent much time with us because we lived nearby

we were lucky, as she took care of us when my parents went to Europe

it seems like we always got sick when they were away

and poor Gram had to mend us

 

We loved playing cards with her

she was almost deaf, so we could cheat and talk about our cards

and she could not hear us

we laughed so hard, tears came to our eyes

and the best part was that Gram laughed too but did not know

what she was laughing at

 

Dear old Gram, our favorite

I just wish I could repeat her cooking today

and I miss those doughy arms, that soft flab that we molded

most of all, her boisterous laugh

may she rest in peace

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

So much warmth and affection for your Gram Betty. You were blessed to have her. She has left you a wealth of happy, fun filled nostalgia. You also brought my nans back to me. We played cards, partied, sang and danced and cooked. So much laughter over the simple things in life. I miss them so much. It was a pleasure to read of your own memories. I could picture your Gram perfectly with her doughy arms. Have a beautiful weekend Betty. Hope you are managing ok with hubby’s ill health. Take care.

Chris

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you so much dear Chris, for your heartfelt review, it really touches me
Health is looking up for hubby....
Warmly, B

[Emunah June.]

God, this brought a tear to my eye. I miss my Grandma. She passed away when I was 18 years old, right when I graduated high school, due to complications from COPD. She was a woman with her demons, but she was my grandma, and I loved her so much. Losing her was so, so incredibly hard. My heart was just broken, and I will sometimes smell or see things that will just bring me back to that somber place of grief.

The day I got married, I tied her picture to my bouquet and put on her perfume, and that was the closest I'd felt to her in a long time. Grandmas have that kind of effect on us.

You do an excellent job of bringing the reader back to that universal nostalgia, all while giving us this beautiful portrait of your Grandma that makes us feel like she was part of our family as well. She sounds like she was just a treasure among men, and I am so thankful you have such gentle memories of her.

An excellent piece that I am so thankful to have read.

[Betty Hermelee]

Dear Emunah
WOW! What a beautiful review! It stirred up those fond memories of my grandmother called just plain "Gram"...Thank you so much!
Warmly, B

[Lorry]

Ain't gram's great? They were never really people or young because we were young and didn't know they had lives before being gram's, despite us knowing they must have been young enough once to marry grampa and learn how to make all those delicious cakes.
To our minds they were just Guam's, which sounds dismissive in itself but everyone loves their Guam's just for being Guam's, just as your reminiscing of her here tells us.
I was baffled by my Guam's, who seemed to stand in front of a pot of chicken soup, made with a whole chicken, stirring away like her life depended on it. We wondered if she ate a whole pot every day, but the reality was that all her grand kids, as well as their owners, who were her sons and daughters all loved grass soup.
What made it more weird was that there was a company called Granny's who made soup so we just assumed she was filling all the cans ready for supermarket shelves and her smiling when we told her about that only made our suspicions all the more real.
Thankfully though that soup company still exists and whenever I see it on the shelves I smile at my wee Granny, potstirrer extrordinaire! 😃

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you always Lorry for bringing back lovely memories of my GRAM.... you are the best!
Warmly, B

[John Sullivan]

Ahhhh, Grams are so similar the world over. I hope mine too rests peacefully. She was the glue that held the family together, as they do.

[Betty Hermelee]

Thanks John for a lovely review!
Warmly, B

[John Sullivan]

Of course, Ms. Betty! A lovely read, after all.

[John the Baptist]

A memoir of a beloved relative here. But that all of the elderly could have a family situation like this one.

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you my friend
Warmly, B

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you my friend, feel very lucky!
Warmly, B

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you John for a lovely review...those memories still tick in my heart
Warmly
B

[emmajoygreen]

Such wonderful and precious memories, dear Betty. As often, you touch my heart with your words but even more share thoughts that remind us of such a darling person as was your dear old Gram - she reads as a real character, a woman never to be forgotten. We had two, one gentle, an essential presence; the other who had gone off to live in Paris and had so many jobs she learned far too much for an ex convent school go who had two uni successes but lived life 'her way'! I'd love to have met your Gram she reads to be so luminous in your family's history.. in fact she is what I call walking history. Many thanks for sharing so visually and warmly - as only you can, dear friend. Hugs and welome back into the land of will it or not be. Take care, keep well, keep writing, keep happy! Dear friend.

'We called her Gram, puffy cheeks, slights rounded nose
glasses were frame less and she was short and bit pudgy
yet possessed the loudest laugh in the whole family

She spent much time with us because we lived nearby
we were lucky, as she took care of us when my parents went to Europe
it seems like we always got sick when they were away
and poor Gram had to mend us

We loved playing cards with her
she was almost deaf, so we could cheat and talk about our cards
and she could not hear us
we laughed so hard, tears came to our eyes
and the best part was that Gram laughed too but did not know
what she was laughing at'

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you my sweet Emma....please message me your real email!!! In case we are down for a while...only person i could reach was J!!!!

[Betty Hermelee]

Dear Em....a memorable review from you dear one!
A bit out if it, since hubby was in hospital 7 days, now out , but weak...excuse the absence!!!
Hugs and smiles dear friend
xoxo

[emmajoygreen]

It's fine, know how worried you must have been. So pleased his home, though busy for you BUT, he's well enough to be there with you and - that's what matters. Hope too, you have help close by if and when needed. Hugs returned, flying over but might be somewhat wet upon arrival!