Today, we said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Simmons. We’ve actually already said goodbye to both of them at their funerals. But as Mom prepares for their estate sale and to sell their house, LeAnn thought it would be a nice time to honor them with one last Sunday dinner at Grandma’s.
LeAnn never really got to experience one of Grandma’s dinners. She wasn’t cooking much by the time that LeAnn came into my life. Unfortunately, LeAnn doesn’t even know what she was missing. Grandma could cook. Like really well. Like really, really, really well. Fried chicken. Mashed potatoes and cream gravy. Fresh buttered corn from the garden. Green bean casserole. Dad’s favorite carrot salad. Homemade rolls. Lemon meringue pie, Angel food cake and ice cream. Everything on the Sunday dishes.
So we gave it the old college try today. But for as much as Mom’s cooking has improved over the years (no more Hungry Man dinners anymore … but as I’ve told Mom, now that I have kids, I can TOTALLY understand the purpose of tv dinners … sometimes you just don’t feel like coming home from work and trying to figure out what’s for supper) we just couldn’t really do it justice. And to be fair, Mom didn’t really do any of the cooking today. She would have made a great feast in her own right. Today was all about LeAnn and I doing the cooking.
For Sunday dinner, Grandma fried up her chicken in her skillet. Today, LeAnn and I sat in the drive-thru at the Warrensburg KFC for ours. Grandpa peeled about forty-seven potatoes and Grandma mashed them up. LeAnn and I sat in the drive-thru at the Warrensburg KFC for ours. Grandma baked all Saturday afternoon for our cake on Sunday. And, to give credit where credit is due, LeAnn did chop up the strawberries for our strawberry shortcake (big ups to Hostess and Cool Whip for the other two ingredients).
All kidding aside, it was a surprisingly good meal. The chicken wasn’t too bad (not Grandma’s obviously, but pretty good). The corn on the cob that Mom and Dad brought from their garden was great. LeAnn, as much as I kid her, can make some great green bean casserole. And the strawberry shortcake was great as well. So, like I said above, we did the best we could, Grandma!
And the best part of it was getting the whole family together to reminisce about all the great times we spent together at Grandma and Grandpa’s. It was so great watching one of our Christmas videos. To be truthful, however, it was a little painful seeing how my Mom and Dad dressed me in 1986 (too short, too tight, all-gray sweatpants … thanks a ton Mom and Dad!). But that was more-than-balanced out by seeing Grandma and Grandpa as Andrea and I truly remember them. It’s a shame that Landon and Kellen (and their cousin, little Co-Co) didn’t get to meet the Grandma and Grandpa that we knew.
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| We listened to old tapes of Grandpa and Andrea singing. The video on the right is of Christmas 1986. Hopefully you can't see my outfit (or Dad's porn 'stache) on the screen. |
The day was topped off by driving out to Fayetteville and showing LeAnn where Grandpa hit me grounders, where he took me to Staley’s store for orange pop and the pasture where he helped teach me how to drive. Just a great day!
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| The roadsign next to Grandma and Grandpa's old house. Fayetteville is so small it doesn't even get it's own roadsign, other than to tell you it's seven miles north of Warrensburg. |
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| Grandma and Grandpa's old farmhouse. That tree was a sapling as I remember it. I also remember the yard being so much bigger. Dad used to hit flyballs across the road. I thought he was Babe Ruth. |
We love you Grandma and Grandpa!
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