a little nostalgia...

As I lovingly reach into the bag and grasp the familiar sliver of wood, I wonder how many times my grandmothers did the identical thing as they secured their laundry to the clotheslines in their rural homes in Nebraska.  There is nostalgia knowing my fingers are encircling the same pins they used so many years and miles ago...I learned early in my life how to maximize the space on the lines and how to place the clothes so they would dry evenly and as quickly as possible, avoiding, if possible, the direct sun rays so things wouldn't fade.  That is part of my heritage.  That is part of my history.  I love to hang my clothes outside and have done so for most of my adult life when possible.  I begged Randy many times to help me install lines and mostly, he did.  When we arrived here, I knew I had packed and brought my grandmother's two clothespin bags with their clothespins and he immediately installed lines so that need in my life could be fulfilled.  He is my hero!!

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They never would have imagined their pins would secure clothes to a line 12,000 miles away under a palm tree... 

I absolutely adored my two grandmothers..they were so different and yet, each helped to mold me into the person I now have become.  Joyce Violin Desmond Laher Martin and Cora Hazel Cooper Gorham were my grandmothers.  They taught me how to laugh, how to cry, how to love, how to forgive, how to be tolerant, how to talk softly, how to dance, how to study, how to win games, how to lose games, when to speak and when to listen, how to hug, how to dust, how to vacuum, how to make lumpy pudding, Gravyard beefsteak, baking powder biscuits, Dobish Torte, homemade ice cream, tapioca, fried chicken, and the list goes on and on.  


I do our laundry a couple of times each week and every time I hang my clothes on the line, I think of my two grandmothers, two of the most important influences for good that I have ever had in my life.  I love and miss my grandmothers.  I will always miss them but I look forward to the glorious day when we will be reunited in the life to come and I can say to them, 'thank you for all the sacrifices you made  in my behalf and I love you forever...'