Happy Birthday to me! 43 this year, I spent yesterday getting an IV infusion of Antibitoics cause I’ve been pooping like every hour. That night the other boat came over and made pizza and then they had tres Leche cake! Yum!
I wrote a post back in 2003 on my birthday with some old photos. Take a look at it cause we’re going to reminisce a bit.
All those photos were taken at my grandparents house in Lenox, those were some of the bet memories I have of childhood. The weeks of time I would get to spend down there with them and my cousin. Every trip would start and end the same. My parents would drive half way to Osceola, there was a Pizza Hut right off the freeway and we’d meet my grandparents there and have pizza. I always loved those family pizza nights at Pizza Hut in the 90’s. Deep Dish meat lovers, bread sticks, unlimited soda. I remember one time my dad and grandpa were actually pulling the waitresses arms in different directions trying to get her to give them the bill. And when ever I had a book-it award, I got my own pizza. Sometimes if it was a really special occasion we’d stop at the prime rib restaurant.
From there, we’d ride with the grandparents down to Lenox, the smell of their car was always unique. Usually grandpa would insist on driving his pickup truck, so it’d be me in the middle with my grandparents on each side. Grandpa would always have the CB radio on, so I’d try and talk to the truckers as we drove past. The cigarette tray was always full of candy. Driving down the rural roads of iowa with the windows down in summer, the smells of corn and soybeans growing, the small towns wizzing by.
We’d get to their house and the first thing would always be fresh baked cookies. Grandma would have the cookie jar loaded up to the brim with ranger cookies and I’d grab a couple of them! I’d always be so excited to see Rebecca and hang out with her.
During the summer (the first picture), we’d spend all day and night together. Sometimes my school would let out earlier then hers, so I’d have to spend the days waiting for her then grandpa and I would go pick her up at school. We’d go bike riding, roller blading. Grandma would come home from work noon-1pm and make us lunch. Then at 1pm we’d rush off to the community pool and spend the whole afternoon there. Grandpa would always give us $1 each. It was $0.25 to get into the pool… Then we’d save the other $0.75 for treats at the pharmacy, the pharmacy in town still had an old fashion soda bar with drinks and ice cream. Depending on what we wanted that day, we’d either get a Zombie drink, or sometimes we’d split the cost of a huge sunday which was only $1.50!
Grandpa always told us not to get sundays’ up there, but we’d sneak them in sometimes. Somehow he always found out!
We’d go see Granny at the nursing home, visit GG at her house. Ride our bikes out to the local lakes and ponds. Grandpa would put us in the back of his pickup and we’d drive around looking for soda cans.. He’d spot one and pull over then one of us would hop out and grab it. IT was always really exciting when he’d miss one that we would see. We’d yell at him to STOP so we could go grab it.
Grandpa had an office in the basement and grandma did crafts down there too, she had a store called “the country goose”. So we’d spend time “working” and we’d have our own little craft days and try to sell them in her craft store.
We’d always be home by dinner time, in Lenox there’s a loud whistle that blows every day, 8am, noon, 1pm, 5pm. We knew to be home by the 5pm whistle. Grandma would have dinner cooking, always something delicious like fried pork chops and gravy or hamburgers with fresh tomatoes from the garden.
Once a week, grandpa would bring back Casey’ doughnuts for us and on Wednesdays (AND SATURDAY if I was still there!) the local restaurant had biscuits and gravy. It was always a huge treat for us when grandpa would take us up there for that.
Sometimes this rolling pizza shop (it was in the back of a semi) would come into town and grandpa would send us up there to get a pizza for dinner.
I miss those simpler days, the days of no cares or worries, not having to think about eating too many cookies. Just enjoying life as a kid, running around town. I miss the sound of my grandpa’s voice asking us to go get him another beer. The smell of their house.
Life has gone by too quickly and I want to have those same sorts of memories today, with what I’m doing now. But I just feel like even though these are amazing adventures and great stories, nothing is going to live up to the same memories as those times at my grandpa and grandma’s house. Spending those few weeks every summer with them.
Maybe I just need to figure out how to enjoy those more simple things again.