Grandma Made My Lunches

Recently, while making a sandwich using home-made bread, I thought of my Grandma and her home-made bread. There was a year when my family lived with my grandparents on their farm.

My sister Tracy wasn't in school yet, but I was entering Grade 1. I remember the yellow school bus that would drive down the dusty gravel road to pick us up every morning. I say us, because at the time, my Uncle Bob was in Grade 12, and we rode the same bus to school. Mirror Elementary was my school and my teacher's name was Mrs. Getz. I remember she was nice, but also kinda scary. She reminded me of my Great-Grandma for some reason.

I don't remember a lot from that time, and actually, I wish I could remember more. A few things come immediately to mind... catching the bus, collecting eggs from the hen house, the milk truck coming twice a week to pick up milk, following my Uncle Les around the farm and 'helping' with chores (as much as a six year old can help anyway), and Grandma wrapping our lunch sandwiches in wax paper. It's funny, the things that stand out after all the years.

And that's when it hit me - one thing my Grandma made that hasn't tasted the same since the memory. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I don't know if it was the home-made bread, if she knew exactly how much of each ingredient to add, or if it was the brands of peanut butter and honey (you can't get either brand anymore), but they were always so delicious. Thinking of them now just makes me smile.

And that brought back memories of going to town (Stettler) on Saturdays for groceries, helping plant potatoes at the other place, Grandma's stories (what she called her soaps), and learning how to candle eggs. Sleeping in the dishwasher room under a heavy handmade quilt, playing with Laddie; and then later with Frosty, Saturday pancake lunches when most of my cousins (aunts and uncles too) at the time came out for the weekends, and the smell of baking bread.

And while I'm grateful for the memories, I wish I could taste a sandwich like that again.