It's really interesting how one little thing can trigger such great memories from way back when. My "way back when" moment came today as I was watching, of all things, Everybody Loves Raymond. The scene was of Raymond visiting his brother Robert at their parents house which is across the street and in walked Marie and Frank. All of a sudden I was taken back to my childhood while living on 6th Street in Rosenberg and being able to visit my grandparents, Al & Jo, who lived only 2 houses down from ours.
Al & Jo were the most loving, nice and warm people to be around. Al was on the quiet side but active and liked to tell stories and Jo, well she was a "hoot" and a character. Like Al, she was very active and just full of life. They were small town and not very sophisticated but what I grew to love about them and miss is the authenticity they had. When my sisters and I were introduced into their lives they opened their arms and accepted us with no hesitation.
My most fond memory of them was when they'd invite us to lunch or dinner. It was always a joke that we'd better eat something before we go because Jo's cooking wasn't really the best. She always made casseroles of some sort and topped them off with crushed potato chips. To my mother, who was a good cook, that was a horrific site and more so to even put in her mouth. As kids, we would go along with her and laugh about it. Secretly, all us girls really liked Jo's food because it was usually full of fatty ingredients that we never got to eat and it was made with love. To this day, whenever I find a bag of chips in my pantry that is almost empty with only the broken chips left, I think of those damn casseroles!
If you're my age, you'll remember when microwave ovens were the new big invention. Well, this was Jo's new oven and she would cook just about everything in it. Can I just tell you that hamburgers should never be cooked in a microwave! Wow! That night was a scream...imagine all of us trying to eat hockey pucks and acting like we enjoyed them (we used lots of condiments).
Jo may not have been good at the savory cooking but she could make some damn good sweets and she always had plenty of them on hand. Cookies, fudge, candy and these balls of deliciousness that were rolled in coconut and the center was some kind of date mixture. If you put a date in front of me I'd most likely gag at the thought of even putting it in my mouth, but I couldn't get enough of those little balls! (LOL! I just had a vision of the "schweatie balls" skit from SNL) My sisters and I loved to go to their house after school just to eat some of her goodies and let them dote on us. Al & Jo had two other grandchildren that were "blood" but they were very ungracious and didn't appreciate thier grandparents for who they were, so my sisters and I really got spoiled by them.
Al and Jo eventually moved to Tyler and we didn't get to see them as often, which was sad. When we did visit we got to enjoy those casseroles and yummy treats along with the chicken salad with huge grapes in it! Oh and Jo used to make this angel food cake with orange liquidy stuff dripping off it that was yummy and only Jo would think of serving spaghetti and baked potatoes together (can you say CARBS)! As the years went on I was fortunate they were able to meet Kyle and John and they too, got to enjoy her loving hospitality. Al died from cancer and after that Jo slowly succumbed to Alzheimer's and was moved into a retirement home. Before she was too far gone Kyle, John and I visited her a couple of times and her face would light up. She died several years ago and I miss both of them dearly. I only hope that both of them knew how much I loved them and will never forget all the great memories I have because of them. My words just don't do them justice to explain what a cute couple they were!
Al and Jo, I love and miss you!
No comments:
Post a Comment