5:00 am… “Good morning Grandpa,” I say with a smile. I know what’s coming…and I have to chuckle a bit. “Good morning? Half the day is over- what, did you sleep in today?” Yep. That was the standard reply; and he meant it. He wasn’t joking, really… Grandpa thought the whole world should rise and shine with him waaaaay before the crack of dawn. After all, isn’t that when you got your best work done? “Hello tweetie”…this from my Gram, who usually followed Grandpa’s response with a little roll of her eyes! Which usually twinkled, I might add. Heck, she’d been hearing this response for over 50 years from him!! But I have to tell you, she was right there along side him, up at the zero-dark thirty break of day; ready for whatever he had planned. Until she got back in the kitchen, where she made magic…
Ahhh…counting coins and making yeast bread dumplings. Yes, these two things are probably my earliest and fondest memories of my grandparents. Truly, two of the most amazing people anyone would ever hope to know. As little kids, we spent a fair bit of time with our grandparents. And there were always, always lessons involved. I wasn’t kidding when I said it was rise and shine before the sun came up. My grandpa didn’t believe in wasting any daylight to sleep. No siree-bob! You got up and had breakfast and off you went. My grandpa did it all. He was a farmer; he was a business man; he was an inventor of all things useful; and he was a go-getter! I do not remember my grandpa ever really sitting still. Even in his later years, when his health started to fail, he never stopped going… for a time, he had to use a walker, and he and I would trek through his house, in a circle so he could get exercise, laughing hysterically at how dizzy we were~and turning to go the other way to “unwind”! My grandpa and gram built houses…on the sides of mountains; harnessing the power of the river water just a few hundred yards away for their benefit. They grew trees, they planted gardens, they canned and froze what they grew. Grandpa had visions and made them happen. Gram painted, and sewed and cooked…in addition to being my grandpa’s “right hand helper”…they never stopped and they never didn’t think there was anything they couldn’t do. They were invincible. Really.
Counting coins and making yeast bread dumplings…those two things inspire me. You see, my grandpa taught me how to count. And it was FUN. He saved coins in huge metal pails and at Christmas, when the whole family was together, he brought out those pails of coins, and a huge stash of Chinese take-out cartons~the old tub and lid kind; and he poured out what seemed to be millions of coins onto the ground…the sound of the coins spilling out, tinkling against one another…the smell of the metal and the somewhat grimy feel that came from sitting for months and months untouched…glorious; just glorious! All of us kids were in heaven!! We knew what was coming! We were going to COUNT, and count and count!! We would sit on the floor with our grandpa, counting until every one of those coins was divvied up and we each had our Chinese take out buckets safely in our arms. Grandpa made it fun; cajoling us to keep counting….and telling us about saving our money, and what we would be able to do with it, and how he started with a lot of nothing way back when…it was magical. And to this day, we have a huge bell jar in our home where all the spare change and sometimes a few stray bills end up…waiting for Christmas time, to be counted…and to be used for something wonderful.
And the yeast bread dumplings? You’re probably wondering just how those could be inspiring…well, making those with my Gram was really something special. She didn’t make them all the time. It was a process…and a lengthy one…and not fail-safe…but, oh…another opportunity for lessons learned. See, those yeast bread dumplings didn’t always turn out perfect. Gram knew the recipe by heart, and we would set out to put it all together, and then let them raise…which they magically did…almost every time…. It was those times that they didn’t raise, where the lessons came in… I figured those unraised blobs were duds and ready for the garbage pail. Nope. Not so much. Gram didn’t see it that way. She would say things like, “oh well, guess we’ll be having a heavy dinner tonight” or “wait til your Grandpa sees these”… and even when they didn’t raise, and they were heavy and dense, she saw them through, and they went on the dinner table. She taught me all about waste not, want not. She taught me that things don’t have to be perfect to be good. She taught me that something is better than nothing. And she taught me to enjoy the little things…because, who doesn’t love a big old slice of a yeast bread dumpling slathered with warm, melted butter…
I still have some of my Grandpa’s coins and this copy of the dumpling recipe is the last written piece my Gram did before she left us…
There’s a lesson in all of these memories…it’s about never saying never. My grandparents didn’t really seem to have that word in their vocabulary. They took on every challenge, held on to every one of their visions, overcame hardship, raised a great family; and they NEVER gave up. Every day, I think about them and what they accomplished in their lives. And I think about how everything they shared with us had a lesson in it, even when it wasn’t a lesson. And I am inspired by them still… when I am up at “zero-dark thirty” to hit the gym or waiting for a race to start; I hear my grandpa’s voice…”the day’s half over…get going!”… And when I am in the kitchen or at my sewing machine…and it hasn’t gone just right; I know I haven’t failed…I’ve been given an opportunity to figure it out and keep on going…
Yes….counting coins and making yeast bread dumplings… I am inspired…
Make your days count…
~Jeanie
Hero Of Her Own Story 