Throwback Thursday: Summer with Grandma and Pa

As mentioned before, there were a few years where I would get to spend a week with my Grandma and Pa all by myself.  I would then go back for another week later in the summer to spend a week there with my sister and my two older cousins.  When my younger cousins were old enough, we all went together for what was then named "Camp Cousin Huggin'."

Cheesy names aside, it was really a lot of fun.  The first year, my Grandma had shirts made for all of us.  I'm pretty sure my older male cousin was mortified.  My aunt even went around and took pictures of us all together.  One of these pictures still sits in my room as a fond memory of the past.

At Grandma's house, we would play cards, ping pong, and billiards.  We would sleep in the garage apartments to feel older.  We would play soccer in the front yard or at the local school.  We would walk to Sonic to get slushes.  We would check out movies from the (I kid you not) local bait, ammo, and movie store.  It was 5 movies for $5 for 5 days.  We checked out a lot of movies.  We would go to the lake to swim and ride jet skis.  We would go to the farm for hay rides, fishing, s'mores, and feeding the cows.  We would swim.  We would do egg hunts with a prize egg with money inside.  We would laugh A LOT.  We would walk to or from church or Pizza Hut.  There was even the time we were practically kicked out of Pizza Hut for making too much noise.  I still blame Pa who taught us how to make loud whistle noises with our straws.  We would check out where Pa worked and play around in his antique cars.  To this day, I'm still shocked that I didn't know back then that he had a pilot's license and plane.  Why did we never go see that?


We had the one summer where we broke everything.  I broke a cup getting ice from the fridge.  The ice hit the edge and shattered the cup.  I broke a small glass top table trying to set another table.  I leaned over and my balance leg caught the table.  Another glass broke when it was hit by a pool cue during a legitimate shot (It was neither my cup or my shot.  This was all on one of my cousins, but I honestly don't remember who).  I'm pretty sure a couple more glasses broke that week.  And an old, outdoor chair broke.  This is a story I cannot get through without laughing hysterically and losing my breath.  I walked to the garage apartment and started to sit down on the chair, but I felt it wobble.  So I moved to the bed before I put my full weight on the chair.  My sister was following me up, and she plopped down in the chair before I could warn her.  My skin and bones sister tumbled to the floor in a heap as the chair fell to pieces under her.  I probably fell off the bed laughing.  I'm a great sister, y'all.

Oh man, such great times with my cousins.  But those weeks alone with just my grandparents were irreplaceable.  I would check out "Anne of Green Gables" and "Anne of Avonlea" from the video store because I knew my sister hated them.  I would them watch with my grandma in the afternoons, and she would fall asleep.  We enjoyed a much quieter existence together those weeks.

The highlight week was the year that my uncle's dog, Lady, had puppies.  I don't remember why Lady was with my grandparents that week, but I'm glad she was.  Early one morning, Lady nudged open my bedroom door and jumped on my bed to wake me up.  I shooed her off and headed downstairs thinking she needed to go outside.  As soon as she was outside, I heard a whimpering noise.  The first puppy had already been born in the dining room.  I got Lady back inside and frantically tried to figure out what I was supposed to do.  I went upstairs to then notice that there were drops of blood on my bed from when she jumped up.  I needed to get my grandparents, but I vividly remember wavering outside their door wondering if I should wake them and how I should wake them and what I should say and what if they didn't hear my knock.  So many thoughts.  I quietly knocked, then I knocked a bit louder.  My grandma heard and quickly jumped into action.  She called the vet (who I now wonder if at the time he was the same uncle of a man I met while we lived in Duncan.  Small world).  The vet gave us some steps to take.  We pulled an old mattress onto one of the porches for Lady.  Why did Grandma have that old mattress anyways?

I spent nearly the whole day watching and taking care of Lady.  I knew each and every puppy in birth order and by spots.  I watched as Lady gave birth and cleaned up the puppies.  It was gross and mesmerizing and beautiful all at once.  We did have to leave at one point because Grandma had an appointment of some sort.  I thought about the puppies the entire time we were gone.  One of the puppies had sadly rolled between the mattress and the wall while we were gone.  It did not survive.  We lost another puppy that day, too.  I remember Grandma taking the dead ones away.  I assume she buried them.  I didn't ask.  We had made guesses on how many puppies Lady would have.  We were both short.  I believe the total got to 9.

Later in the summer, I went to visit my aunt and uncle at their house on Lake Texoma.  One of the puppies hadn't survived.  I really don't remember why, but my aunt was terrified about me coming because she knew I would notice.  Sure enough, I knew exactly which one was missing by birth order as soon as I couldn't find it.

No pictures this time because I don't have any.  I can't even remember what year all this happened to show a picture of me at that time.  If anyone knows those details or has a picture of me with the puppies, send them my way.