Spending the night with my grandparents on my dad's side was quite different than spending the night with my maternal grandparents. My grandma was very busy all the time. She was either cooking, doing laundry, sewing, cleaning, taking care of the chickens, or gardening. She rarely watched any TV. She might sit down in the evening and watch the news.
I remember one time wanting to go home with my grandpa and grandma. I got all my clothes packed, got in the car, and then got about 1/4 mile down the road. At this point I suddenly got very homesick and asked to go home. They did take me back. I have no idea of how old I was when this happened.
There was a huge tree just outside the back door of their house. There was a swing made of an old board that had notches in the sides so that it would fit on a big chain. The chain was wrapped around a large limb in the tree and secured. You could really swing high, and it was a favorite past time while there. They had what was called a glider. It was a faded red----I think. My grandpa would sit in that glider and whittle a stick with his pocket knife. He never made anything, he just whittled on the stick until it was just a sliver and then toss that on the ground as well. He would say to me, "Come sit down here and visit with me". I've no idea of what we talked about. I think he would talk and tell me things, and I would just listen.
One time while there for an overnight stay, it was very hot. The windows had just had all the trim painted, and the windows were stuck and would not raise. As a solution to the problem, my grandma took a knife and begin to cut around the window to loosen the paint. My grandpa and I were standing outside the bedroom window where she was working on the inside. My grandpa begin to tell my grandma she was cutting the weather stripping and was ruining the window. They kind of got into it for a bit. Then my grandpa whispered to me, "She doesn't know it, but she just ruined the weather stripping." I don't know why, but I thought that was very funny. I guess I thought I would get into trouble if I laughed. I tried very hard to keep from laughing, but finally I kind of snickered. My grandpa let out a big belly laugh. He thought it was very funny that I was trying not to laugh. He teased me about that for years. Grandpa always would say, "If you'll come home with us, we'll fix some windows for you."
I would go to the chicken house with my grandma to gather the eggs and feed them. Sometimes in the summer I would go to the garden and help gather vegetables.
There were no toys at my Embry grandparent's house. So you had to think of things to do. I looked at photo albums, old school year books, went outside to swing, or go look around in the barn, or explore old outbuildings that were used long ago. There was a building where there was an anvil, old plow parts, tools, and just junk in general. It seems all the buildings had dirt floors.
There was a bedroom that I loved to go in and look around. It was my Aunt Lula Maye's bedroom when she was growing up. I loved the dressing table, mirror, and the set of brushes that was on the dressing table. I felt like that room was the room of a princess.
Sometimes my grandparents would go visit some of my uncles and aunts. So I went with them.
Once in a while my cousin Rhonda would come and stay while I was there. She was three years older than I was. She was the same age as my cousin Debbie who came to my Engelking grandparents to spend the night. Even those these two cousins were the same age, Rhonda did not want to play like my cousin Debbie. Rhonda was just interested in boys. I did not give a lick about boys at that age. So we never really had that much fun together.
My cousin Jeep lived about a quarter mile away. He would come down and play while I was there. Sometimes I went to his house to play with some of his toys. Once or twice I spent the night at his house. He never spent the night with my grandparents. I don't know why.
Saturday was "going to town" day. My grandma always made me take a bath before going to Muleshoe. That was their custom and had been for all their lives. We would drop my grandpa off at the sale barn. Then we would go on in to town. My grandma always went to the beauty shop to get her hair done on Saturday. After she did that, we would go to several stores on main street. My grandma was always looking for patterns and material. She sewed a lot of clothes. She sewed several things for me when I was younger. She made all her dresses and most of my aunt Lula Maye's clothes. After looking around in several stores, she would sometimes take me to the drug store fountain. We would get a coke. Then she went to the grocery store to shop. After that it was time to go get my grandpa at the sale barn and go home. I usually did not stay the night on a Saturday. Often times my mom and dad would come to Muleshoe and pick me up there.
Even though it was very different to being with my maternal grandparents, I have a lot of fun and precious memories of being with my paternal grandparents. Time spent with both sets of grandparents was a treat, and I feel blessed to have had those opportunities.
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