It was Friday afternoon and I was driving home from school so I could get my things together before I headed up to my grandma’s for the weekend.

It was a bright, sunny afternoon as I made my way north. I had stopped on my way at McDonalds and got my favorite chicken sandwich meal with a Diet Coke. Diet Coke was my favorite! Especially the glass bottled kind that I’d get before school. Windows were down & the music was on! Life was good.

This one particular afternoon the McDonalds was not agreeing with me at all. By time I made it to her house my stomach was in knots, twisting, turning, and just plain terrible. She gave me graham crackers to help. It didn’t work. Eventually she gave me one of her Xanex … the wonder drug. I felt so much better!

We got ready and headed out for dinner and a movie. That weekend it was Disney’s The Jungle Book and fried perch.

During my last two years of high school I would venture to my grandma’s house once in a while to spend the weekend with her. We’d go shopping, out to dinner, and sometimes a movie. Sometimes we’d just hang out at home and watch Murder She Wrote. It wasn’t my favorite show but it was hers so we watched it. It was her that got me hooked on watching Days of Our Lives and Another World.

I’ve since stopped watching Soaps.

My grandma died after I graduated from high school when I was 19 yrs old. She was the last grandparent that I had left.

When I was younger I didn’t spend a lot of time with her because I lived with my mom and of course my parents were divorced. That all changed in 8th grade when I moved to my dad’s house.

Once I was able to drive I would go up on weekends or during the summer. She lived in a small town, a farming community in the thumb area of Michigan. But the upside was that the town was on Lake Huron. There was a state park, great beach and always tourists. I never thought of it as a touristy area and still don’t. It’s like home or an extension of home. I find it funny when people say that they’re going there for the weekend to get away for a vacation. We used to go all the time for no reason other than to visit family.

The house she lived in has been in the family for over 100 years. And still is. It’s changed a lot since she’s lived there and many of us no longer consider it grandma’s house. It’s one of those look but don’t touch type homes.

I loved going up there. It was relaxing in a way… no working, no school, no spending the weekend helping my parents clean the house (yuk!). We simply hung out together.

It was my grandma who introduced me to Grape Nuts. I still love them today.

I  miss my grandma and the time that we spent together. I wish that we had more time together. I wish that she could have seen her great grandchildren. I wish she could see the way my dad interacts with them.

I think about her often and wish that my kids have a close relationship with one of their grandparents.

What about you? Did you have a special relationship with your grandparents?

This is my post for the Red Writing Hood.