Happy Fall to everyone! Yes, it’s here even though it still feels like summer here in northern Illinois. I wonder does it look like fall anywhere? Here it is still very lush and green due to all of the rain we’ve gotten recently. With the exception of a few leaves here and there, I cannot find any golden, reddish, or orange hued trees yet.
My Grandma was one of the most special people in my life. It would have been her 103rd birthday today. She’s been gone 8 years and I still miss her as much as ever. She was only 48 years old when I was born and we always lived close by, so we spent lots and lots of time with her and my grandpa; I have tons of wonderful memories of her.
I looked for photos of her and I together and sadly there are very few. I think it was because she was always preparing meals and taking care of everyone; she hardly ever sat down. Here’s one of her helping me eat soup. She was always making soup and to this day I love soup and make it more than anything else.
She had a little garden in the back of their two flat in a Chicago suburb where they lived in the 1960s. When I got older she would send me out to her lettuce patch to pick leaf lettuce for dinner. I still use her vinegar and oil dressing recipe for my salads. This is her recipe from so long ago. I keep it in the refrigerator and use as needed. The olive oil gets solidified in the frig, but 30 seconds in the microwave makes it pourable again.
Vinegar and Oil Salad Dressing
2 oz. apple cider vinegar
2 oz. olive oil
4 oz. water
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
a sweetener, my Grandma used Sweet and Low, but I use 15 drops of Stevia.
Shake up everything in a salad dressing shaker or jar and pour on salad as desired.
Oh, I just thought of this story she told me a few years before she passed. She NEVER ever had a doll! Do you believe it? Well, I couldn’t believe it, so for her next birthday I hand painted a round wooden box to look like a cake and placed some Kelly dolls inside dressed in the types of outfits I was making at the time. She was so happy and displayed the little dolls on a shelf in her apartment. She always supported my creative passions.
Happy Birthday Grandma and I miss you SO MUCH!
Love you, Grandma! ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks so much for reading along and sharing a few of my memories of my Grandma. Who do you have from your childhood who was extra special in your life?
Cindy Rice Designs 
Your Grandma was a beautiful person! Your birthday’s gift was original and wonderful and I am not surprised that it has made her very happy!
My Grandma looked like yours! She was also 48 years old when I was born! She made delicious soups too and also incomparable apple pies and crispy donuts! I loved her so much! She left us in 2008, she was 97 years old, I miss her a lot! My daughter and she were fusional, she did’nt know my mom who died before his birth.
Thank you very much for sharing these moments of hapiness!
Here, it’s cold and grey today, but the sun comes back tomorrow!
Have a good day!
Hello Catherine,
Thank you for reading my little post dedicated to my Grandma. I’m glad you had a wonderful Grandma too! My Grandma loved to bake also. I wrote about her apple strudel at Christmas time, it would be devoured by the family in seconds even though it took her hours to make.
I’m sorry that your daughter didn’t get to meet her grandma, she sounds like she was a wonderful and loving person. I am sure she is learning about her grandma through stories from you.
Can’t wait to try your grandmother’s recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Joy,
Thanks for giving it a try. I hope you like it, apple cider vinegar is supposedly very good for you.
Thank you for sharing your memories. It is evident that part of her creative beauty lives on in you, look at her beautiful flowers and luscious garden. Happy Birthday to your Grandmother! I’m sure she is smiling down upon you today! Pennie
Hello Pennie,
Thank you for the birthday wishes for my Grandma. Many of my earliest memories of flowers and gardens came from her. I think, too, that she is watching down from heaven.
I so love this story. Especially since I knew your grandmother. This story reminds me that we have the opportunity to leave something precious behind. Your grandmother is testimony to that! She always talked of you so fondly and when she did I felt the bond you have expressed here. Happy Birthday to your Grandmother!
Hello Heather,
Thank you for sharing. She touched a lot of us with her caring nature. I am so happy that she got to know all of her great grandchildren. Remember how much she LOVED babies?
Yes I do. She always had time to chat with the adults but babies well that was a whole other thing. Lots of singing and doting over the the babies!
What a great story! I have a cousin who is only 6 months younger than I am and we spent quite a bit of time together. Her Mom, my Aunt Dot, was a gardener and a crafter. She made us doll clothes and showed us how to embroider and knit which, I think, was to keep us out out of trouble. She also quilts and it’s something I learned much later in life. Anyway, I always think of her for the time she took to show us how to be little girls. Rita
Hello Rita,
What a wonderful aunt you have (and a cousin too)! It sounds like you have some great memories with them from your childhood. Your aunt is a patient person and a good teacher. I never had too much luck teaching my daughter those skills. I did try, and she wanted to learn, so we would have lessons often, but nothing really came of it. Thank you for sharing your story, Rita; I enjoyed it very much.
Nice, heart-throbbing group of stories paying homage to our inventive, creative, artful grandmothers and aunts. Those who made such a difference on this planet and in our small lives. God bless them, every one. Aren’t we the lucky ones!
Nicely said, Marina, thank you. Yes, we are the lucky ones. Hopefully, we can do the same for those we leave behind.