My maternal grandfather was a Merchant Marine (and sign painter) and traveled all over the world (hmmm, perhaps that's where I got the travel bug and at least some of my artistic skills).

He used to come to visit after months at sea and bring me cool gifts like Koalas (stuffed, not real) from Aus, magic tricks from Hong Kong, money and stamps from lands I'd never heard of. I still have all of the coins and bills he gave me along with handwritten notes from him.

On top of all that cool stuff, my grandfather was the only person who recognized the tom-boy in me and gave me birthday and Christmas longed for toys like firetrucks and boomerangs. Much to the dismay of my mother. :-)

Even though I didn't live near him most of my life, he was by far my favorite grandparent and I was able to fly to Canada where he retired and see him shortly before he passed away at 87.

Jodi-

I got to stay over night with both sets of grandparents. I remember when my dad's parents and sister built the house my aunt lives in now. Grandma would take a week off of work so I could stay with them for a week, get up early & take Grandpa to work so we could have the car for the day.

Mom's parents had a farm. I remember riding on the tractor with Grandpa. He was a very quiet man, never heard him yell, or even raise his voice. I sure miss them all. Grandma learned to crochet in later years, maybe after Grandpa died. And she would wrap hangers in rug yarn. Those sure kept the clothes on the hangers! I still have some. Before Grandpa died, after he retired, they went to Florida in the winter a couple of years. He collected sharks teeth, and made plaques with them, & Grandma cut the tops of dish soap bottles off at the "shoulders" and glued shells on the bottles to make beautiful vases.

Tami

My grandmother (Mother's side) died when I was 5. I remember her wake down to the smallest detail.

Grandfather (Mom's side) and Grandmother (Dad's side) died before I was born.

Grandfather on Dad's side...didn't see him much but he did like to call on the phone.

No real memories here.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

Never knew my father's parents - they died when he was very young.

But, we lived less than an hour from my mother's parents - she was an only child, and grandmom and grandpop were very much in our lives. I loved them both dearly, not just for all they gave us (vacation trips, weekends in NYC, shopping, restaurant dinners) but for what they were.
My grandmom was known as "Aunt Doll" by everyone. She was (and still is) the kindest person I have ever known. Never heard a word of criticism from her, she would parry criticism she heard with kind words.
When I developed a love for baseball, he took me to my first Phillies game, and first visits to the Polo grounds and Yankee Stadium for games.
All I had to do was just to mention a place or experience...and they made it happen.
They were both there for every landmark event in my childhood, up to and including my wedding.

My maternal grandparent's wedding picture - 1921.

My maternal grandfather had a 160acre dairy farm in N.E.Ohio and he still farmed the old way, using draft horses to do most of the work. The summer before I started school in the first grade grandpa taught me how to drive a team of horses, thats right folks, when I was only 5 years old.

For the next 13 years I spent every possibe minute at the farm. Friday night when school was out, I was off to Grandpas, returning Sunday night so I could go to school Monday. In June, when school was out I used to walk to grandpa's farm, then call home and tell mother where I was..not to return until after Labor Day so I would be home for school. The hours were long, the work was hard and in many ways you grew up fast on the farm because no matter how small you were, there was always some job that just seemed to fit you, and if I were to even begin to tell people of some of the crazy things we did for fun they wouldn't believe it. Things like repelling off a cliff with home made ropes that we had braided out of bailer twines or going out in the hog lot and sneaking up on a huge 800lb hog while it was sleeping, jump on its back, grab the ears and see how long you could hang on when the hog started running. Knowing full well that when you got thrown off you better bounce up on the run, cause those hogs could literally bite your leg off if they caught you.

I wouldn't trade the world for those memories.

I knew only my maternal grandmother, a wonderful woman. She was a preacher's widow, and had learned to make every penny stretch. We all still remember what a cook she was, especially her sticky cinnamon buns, her Grandma's Cookies, and so many other foods. And she had the most wonderful collection of buttons in her button box. She had white hair down past her waist that she wore in a bun at the back of her neck. When we girls would start to act up, she would remind us, "Pretty is as Pretty does!"

Both my mom's parents died in Japan years ago. I don't even know if I was alive when they died. My dad's mom died when he was 16, but we were always told it was when he was 4. She died in a mental institution and I found out she didn't have a very good life after she married my grandfather. I "knew" him when I was a baby and that's it. My dad never took us around him after that...and now I know why. I now know one reason my dad spent so many years drinking and why he was the way he was when I was growing up. Just makes me sad.

I didn't know my Mom's Mom. She died before any of the grandchildren were born.. My Dad's Mom was a fabulous Grandma. She just lived across town so we saw her often. She would bake, garden, sing and play with us all the time. She had a huge garden that our dad made us help weed with her. I can remember hating to do this. She took us to the fair every summer. She gave each of us a quarter for the night. What a wonderful time we would have. She was an old time Nazarene lady. She had hair that went to her knees and she would braid it so fast each morning and roll it up on top of her head.

Sadly, the last time I saw her was on my wedding day. She was very ill with cancer and couldn't attend my wedding. All of the wedding party went to her home so she could see us. I called every day while on my honeymoon to see how she was. We came home early so I could see her. Thirty minutes before I got home she died. What a wonderful lady!!!! So many times I wish she would have seen our children. She would have been so proud. Grandma died June 6th, 1968.. I miss her everyday.

In my older years I have so many memories that have meant so much to me. It has helped me to be a wonderful grandma to our grandchildren. She taught me so much...

Mine were gone by the time I got here. Never knew them

Three of four grandparents passed away before I was born. I only knew one "Gramma" and we lived in her house. She had buried two husbands, the only way she was able to keep her house was by turning it into a boarding house. She cooked, cleaned and did laundry all her life. She made wonderful pickles and jams, that was back in the day before freezers. She got stomach cancer and died on her 77th birthday in 1961.

My paternal grandparents were from Italy. My grandfather took a teeny plot of dirt in the backyard in Boston and grew the most amazing fruits and vegtables. Looking and eating out of his garden for a city kid was like Wonderland.

WOW, lazypup: sneaking up on a huge 800lb hog while it was sleeping, jump on its back, grab the ears and see how long you could hang on when the hog started running

I am enjoying reading all those that post their memories, good with the not so good.

Lost my grandmother to stomach cancer when I was in junior high.

My Mom's mom baked a lemon cake every Sunday because all her kids and their kids came to see her. Every Christmas Eve we had homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. After everyone ate, adults first and then the kids, starting with the oldest, we would wait for the arrival of Santa Claus. He always knew just when to show up with his bag full of goodies.
As I got a little older my mom, brothers and I had to go to Grandma's house to chop and pick cotton. It seemed like 10 miles to the end of each row!!! Being I was the youngest and Grandma was the oldest we got to go back to the house to cook lunch. I just had to peel potatoes and set the table. Then she would put me on the butter churn. If the cow gave lots of milk that morning I got to use the churn, if not Grandma would put the milk in a quart jar and I'd have to shake it till it made butter. Shaking that jar was harder than turning the butter churn. We chopped and picked each year to earn money for new material so that mom could sew our school clothes. She even sewed the boys shirts.
Gotta to say I'm glad "the good old days" are just memories now. As tough a days as those were they left happy memories with me. Just glad I don't have that kind of life anymore.

My paternal grandfather was the most fun a kid could hope for. They had a large farm, but grandpa was mainly a politician. He worked at the courthouse way before I ever knew what politics meant. My clearest memory of him was going out in the morning as soon as it was light and tilling his garden. The garden was probably 2 acres and he grew the most amazing vegetables and strawberries. And huge gladiolas. As kids, we were often called on to hull peas, snap green beans and pick strawberries. One day we picked 96 quarts of berries. We worked all day but, hey, it was all you could eat!!

When he was country auditor he worked Saturday mornings and would call our house to invite one of us (I think he must've had an age limit of at least 10) to come downtown to have lunch with him. Oh what a treat that was when I finally got old enough. The courthouse was old and musty and I loved the smell. Once he took me up the stairs to the top where the clock was. It was dirty, but fascinating. He showed me how they set the clock.

Lunch was always at the Durbin Hotel, which was a wonderful hotel/restaurant. Real tableclothes and napkins (when you have 6 siblings, that's unheard of). If they had Swiss steak I always ordered that, but the chicken salad sandwich was a favorite, too. Later, he'd drive us home, where all the kids came pouring out of the house to get a hug.

He owned a saw mill someplace in southern Indiana and would take a bunch of us down when he went to check on it. We'd always stop for an ice cream cone on the way home.

That sweet man would stop by on a Friday after work and take one of us home to stay the night. (Don't think my grandmother appreciated it sometimes.) You just don't know what a thrill it was to be an only child for a night. :-) In the evening he'd make popcorn in a wire popcorn popper shaken over the coal furnace in the basement. He'd put it in a big paper bag and pour a stick of melted butter over the top and plenty of salt. Then we were ready to watch TV. He had the first set in the whole county and on Sunday's lots of farm families came over to watch whatever was on--don't think it made much difference what it was.

He opened him farm to his church for a yearly strawberry supper--and supplied all the strawberries from his huge garden, shortcake and homemade ice cream. Everyone brought a dish to share for the supper part. He also had our 4-H and Girl Scout troops out for hayrides and a weenie roast.

He died when I was a senior in high school, just after he fulfilled his dream of being a member of the Indiana Congress.

I loved that man so much!

Monica...LOVE the photo !!! I can remember my grandpa always had lemon drops in his pocket.. he would dole them out, but always acted like it was a big secret...don't tell Mom, but I'm sure she was aware of it...when ever I see lemon drops to this day, I think of him. Hopefully we are making memories for our grandkiddos...I am certain Glenda most definatly is !

Love this and thanks all that have shared so far. Hopefully more will read and share.

My maternal grandfather died before my mother was married. His widow lived with my mother and me all the rest of her life. She was not a cheerful woman, but after doing some genealogy I understand her hard life. Her eldest sister emigrated from Scotland, became a nurse in NYC, and sent money for passage for the rest of the family: My grandmother (16), her elder brother, and her widowed mother. All Grandmother's family died of TB before my mother was six. Then her DH died of a stroke during the Depression. I wish she'd talked about some of her early life, but she was ashamed of her poor beginnings. She was a *smart* woman! She lived into her 90's.

I have only two memories of my father's parents after my mother and father divorced. After the end of WWII my father took me (age five or six) by rail in a sleeper car to visit his parents, who were living in Phoenix. Then we drove in Grandpa's big old Cadillac to Denver. I was stuck in the middle in the back seat between Grandma and my youngest aunt while Grandpa and my father smoked cigars in the front of the car. (Like to DIE!) I thought my aunt was a bit slow; she was so quiet and moody. (Now I know she'd just had a baby and been forced to give it up. Family secrets!) In Denver we visited the graves of my Grandmother's parents; her father was Denver's first medical examiner. Grandpa had family buried there too. His mother had moved his sister from Cincinnati to Colorado, hoping to cure her TB.

When I was about ten my father drove me to Meadville, PA, then my eldest cousin and I took the train to Brewster, NY where our grandparents were summering. I only remember that one evening all their grandchildren (my cousins) were in a swimming pool together, with Grandma and Grandpa sitting at one end of the pool, gloating over 'their' creations! It was startling for me, an "only child of an only child", to be with these kids who *looked like me*! Grandpa attended my wedding and lived to 100. (Genealogy has shown me what a fraud he was; how he had deserted his wife and seven kids during the Depression, leaving her to run a boarding house for college students in order to survive. I can't imagine why she took him back.)

One of my grandfathers loved playing dominoes. He taught all of his children and grands to play. The domino board was never put away, just slid under the bed.

My grandmother did not like games. She was always busy doing something productive and thought everyone else should be working.

Grandpa would sneak some dominoes to the field where he should be plowing, and he and the children would play dominoes under a shade tree.

When I was a child he was still farming with a mule.
When it was lunch time grandma would go on the porch and yell really loudly for him. He could not hear her, but the mule could and he would refuse to take another step.

Glenda, usually as soon as the hog jumped up we got tossed head over teacups. I think the longest ride was one done by my brother where he actually stayed on for about 50ft.

The most exciting time was when my cousin jumped on the hog, the hog jumped up tossing my cousin, who basically landed on his head, then rolled to his feet and started running for the fence between the hog lot and the garden. As he go to the fence he dove head first over the fence, got to his feet again and kept on running, however the hog also jumped the fence and ended up loose in the garden. We all had a time trying to chase that hog back into the hog lot before Grandpa or Grandma could see what we had done....LOL.

I remember Grandpa chewed tobacco and kept his chew in a cloth bag about the size of a sock in his pocket. Us boys all thought that was cool so we made cloth bags and filled them with raisins so when Grandpa stopped to pack a chew,we could get a chew also.. Grandpa thought that was so cool that he bought raisins in 25lb bags just for us boys.

What fun, lazypup!

My maternal grandmother dipped snuff. I remember it being in a little tin can. And she used the end of a wooden match, that she had feathered to use for dipping.

never knew my paternal grandparents...(my dad was 46 when i was born) but adored my maternal gparents...spent couple of summers with them...gma ran my uncle's dairy queen...not bad, lol...

looking back it was really an aweful job..i can still see her every am with huge buckets of hot, soapy water, washing the machines...her hands beet red...

she and my great aunt "saved" me one day..had started to go out the back door and here was this huge black snake!! and these two ladies in slips and those funny orthopedic laced shoes, rushed out the door grabbing hoes and disposed of it!

Growing up with 5 grandparents Two on Mom's side and 2+1x on Dad's. I got along with all. Spent every summer from 10years to ?? on the ranch. Learned to milk cows, pick fruit, and GP had about 300 chickens. Learned to candle eggs, make butter, etc. Did pretty much what I wanted and even learned to watch out for rattlesnakes. So many memories. Dad's mom and step dad from England lived in AZ right near the Apache/Hopi/Navajo reservations. Again lots of great memories. Ex GP raised gourds and made all sorts of neat things. Do miss them all.

The only 2 I knew. Well lets say Grandfather was the town child molester. And grandmother took it out on all us children. Yes we lived with them as my mother was divorced and back then did not have many options. But on a brighter note my children have great grand parents on both sides plus a Great grandmother whom we hope to visit in a few weeks near the Cape. She is 98 and a wonderful lady. She is not all there. But still very sweet:)

Wonderful to read these memories. My mother's parents came over from Norway, met in a then Norwegian area of Brooklyn. My grandfather would dress as Santa every Christmas Eve when all their children and grandchildren would be at their home to celebrate.
They had a deep front porch, not the small ones built nowadays. We could play out there in the rain and never get wet. We'd spend hours playing chinese checkers and parchesi there. And marbles, my grandfather taught us how to shoot marbles and back then I knew the names of all kinds.
My grandmother handmade dresses for my sister and me when we were little. Funny thing is, when I think of my maternal grandmother, I think of Jergen's hand lotion. She kept one in the kitchen. I associate the original fragrance with her. When my sister and I would spend the night, we'd often go to Howard Johnson's restaurants. I seem to remember the children's menu having Disney characters or Peter Pan , Tinkerbelle character names as menu items.
My grandparents came to our home for Sunday dinner every other Sunday. The other Sunday back to Brooklyn to visit other relatives. When I was a high school freshman they never showed one Sunday . Their car was hit by someone running a red light. My grandfather died and my grandmother hospitalized for a long time.

My dad's mother died of TB when I was about 4. His father lived "down the shore" in Jersey across the bay from the Barnegat Lighthouse. So many memories of fishing , crabbing and wonderful times there.

I could write more as other things come to mind,but thanks for the post to be able to think back to those times.

My grandmother did not have her own home so we only saw her when she visited and stayed at our home. She got along with and loved all her 20+ grandchildren. We loved having her visit-no trouble having one of us give up our bed for her. Every single one of her grandchildren remember our birthday cards with $2 every year. She made us feel special.

My maternal grandfather was always very sickly and died when I was about 8. I remember visiting them every other weekend - my mother and I would ride the bus from our town to theirs. My maternal grandmother used to use snuff - I remember the peppermint smell of it. My paternal grandfather died before I was born. Growing up, my family lived on the other side of a duplex my paternal grandmother owned. She would always have a big lunch ready during the week for my uncle, my siblings and myself. She was a stern woman who always had projects to do. She passed away when I was a junior in high school.

My paternal grandfather would have all the grandkids, at Christmas, sit in front of him at the fireplace and hand us all silver dollars as his present. I still have them.

Thanks everyone for sharing. I really enjoyed this thread :o)

I didn't know my paternal grandparents. My grandpa died several years before I was born, and my grandma when I was a baby.

I did know my maternal grandparents and have lots of memories.

They loved to garden. The house that I remember them living in most of my life had the yard totally surrounded by mostly peonies and iris', but also tulips, ferns, and a bed of old fashioned mixed perennials. They also had a vegetable garden and a row of gooseberry bushes. I think this is where my love of gardening comes from :-)

Grandpa played Slap Jack with us kids. If you don't know what that is, it's a card game where the dealer turns over one card at a time. Everyone stays ready, and if the card is a Jack, tries to 'slap' it. The person who slaps it first, wins the pile of cards. The person who wins the most cards, wins the game!

Grandma made jam out of ripe gooseberries. She's the only person I ever knew who did anything with them other then make green gooseberry pie. Her cooking specialties were applesauce cake and divinity, which she made in HUGE amounts every Christmas season. She made them for all the kids (6) and grandkids (17) but not the greats (30+) every year. She'd stir up a huge batch of cake. She used applesauce as one of the 'wet' ingredients, but if she didn't have enough applesauce it didn't matter. She's just substitute some canned pears, or maybe even some tomato juice. Didn't matter what she used, it always ended up tasting like applesauce cake and was always good. And then after she poured out enough cakes from her batch of batter, she'd start adding more flour and would end up with a batch of applesauce cookies too!

My mom was born in 1917 weighing only a little over 2 pounds. She was born at home and it was a miracle she lived, back in those days. I remember Grandma telling how she was up, holding on to the back of a chair, and sweeping the kitchen when Mom was only a week old. Someone stopped to visit and told her she was going to regret doing that. Grandma was in her upper 70s or maybe 80s when she was telling this story. I remember her saying she was still waiting to see when she was going to regret it!!!

Grandma collected salt and pepper shakers, so she always received a lot of them as gifts. She used to put the name of the person who gave her a gift on the bottom of the item, saying 'you'll get this back some day'. We, being young, would say 'Oh Grandma...' and she'd say 'Well, I'm gonna die someday, you know!'

Grandpa had emphysema. He smoked only briefly, as a young man, but somehow he ended up with emphysema. He was on oxygen full time, and confined to bed when I was in my last years of high school. When I married, at 18, he decided he was going to get himself well enough to 'walk' me down the aisle. He did it too! My mom pushed him, in his wheelchair, oxygen tank and all, and he walked me into the church and down the aisle! What a miracle!

There are so many stories, but I'll stop here. I loved my Grandma and Grandpa. I still do.

My maternal grandfather was an avid Pittsburgh Pirates fan, and me being from eastern Pa, followed the Phillies. Pap used to put his radio in the kitchen window and sit outside on the patio, smoking a pipe, listening to the game...I still love the smell of a pipe. Well, I don't remember the year, but had to be in the 70's and he was teasing me about an upcoming game and did I want to make a wager with him?
Oh yes I did, (little naive me.)
So the bet -made privately- was sealed. We bet 10 POUNDS of chocolate to the winner.
My Pap was a type 1 diabetic. He couldn't eat regular chocolate. When my mom found out she said "do you have any idea how much sugar free chocolate cost?"
I started to sweat.
Good news is Phillies won and about 2 weeks later I got an enormous package in the mail....10 lbs is a LOT of chocolate...

Another thing he did was, he always hid a box of malted milk balls in his closet for me. (my absolute favorite candy to this day)
There were about 15 grandkids, but he and I had a very special bond.

Dang... I miss you Pap!

I posted earlier, about my Grandmother who had been widowed twice, made her home into a boarding house, and died of cancer on her 77th birthday. Every Sunday, she would visit her dead husbands' graves. While at the cemetery, she would take roses that were left on any graves she saw. She brought them home and rooted them. She had a fantastric rose garden, she called them "Cemetery Roses". When I was a kid, she let me pick as many as I wanted. Today I have 14 rose bushes in my yard as a tribute to her.

salgal...my grandmother was a Philadelphia A's fan.
A few years after they left for KC, and eventually Oakland...I became a Phillies fan.

In the early 70's, the A's came back "home" for a game with the Phils. Grandmom was now in her mid 70's, and I took her to that game...got tickets in a first row box, and she loved seeing her A's again - both the new players and the old timers whom she remembered - although she did remark about how old they looked !

I just enjoyed turning the tables, and giving her a treat.

Our family lived close to my paternal grandparents in the country. My dad was one of 10 siblings and the family would always go to church on Sundays and then go next door to my grandparent's house. They had a huge kitchen and we would all bring a dish to share. My grandmother always made fried apples pies. There were so many of us that some would be forced to eat outside on the front porch. The front porch swing was the most sought after seat in the house. After lunch the ladies would lower the quilting rack that my grandmother had raised up to the kitchen ceiling and quilt all afternoon. The men would sit outside under the shade trees and play dominos or checkers. The kids (myself included) would play baseball in the cow pasture next door to the house. This brought a new element to the game of baseball - cow patties. Once I had on a new pair of white shorts and fell backwards onto a patty. I cried the rest of the afternoon because I had to change back into my church dress. When the summer grew very hot we would churn homemade ice cream on the porch. Boy, those were the days,
Debbie

I love this thread! My Grandma and Grandpa were the most influential people in my life. God gave me to woman who never wanted me and thankfully her parents were always there. They never spoiled me with materialistic things but showed me incredible amounts of love. My grandpa tied a rope swing to a limb way up in a large tree in their yard and would push me on that swing for hours while telling me stories of when he was a little boy. I still remember the sound of the rope as it squeaked on limb. He taught me how to fish, he baited my hooks and took the fish off the hooks since the only thing I really ever like about fishing was holding a pole and being at the lake with him. Grandma taught me to bake and cook incredible meals, we picked vegetables from their garden and would sit on the porch and shell peas or snap beans and talk about everything. As I got older the roles reversed as my grandma lost her eye sight and then became confined to a wheelchair but we still sat on their porch and had wonderful talks. I lost my grandma 5 years ago and I miss her everyday. I'm 46 years old and still have my grandpa, he's in a nursing home but I talk to him everyday on the phone and visit weekly. He still tells me the same stories he told me when I was a little girl but I love them just as much now as I did then.

I have very little to contribute to this thread. My maternal GM died when my Mom was three. Her widower husband had no other family anywhere nearby and so he had two aunts sail over from Ireland and take Mom and my aunt and uncle back there to be raised. He never saw them again until they were young adults. Dad's father died many years ago and I only met my FGM when we all visited Ireland in 1966. She did come to America for my brothers wedding around '74. She died shortly afterward.

I became a grandparent myself last August. My grandson shares his middle name with me, the greatest honor that has ever been bestowed upon me. I'm doing everything possible to insure that if anyone ever asks HIM this question that he'll have a lot of good answers. Like many parents I made a lot of decisions when my kids were growing that I would have done differently given the chance. I'm using that knowledge that I didn't have then, now.