Grandma Thompson

My last blog reminded me of my Grandma Thompson, my Mom's Mom. My Grandma Thompson lived in Fruita, Colorado (Just outside Grand Junction). So, for us to see her, it took a 12 hour car trip from St. David. We would start early in the morning and drive all day and get there late in the afternoon.
The trip was not fun either. My whole family shoved in a car with luggage and pillows. And then parts of the drive were through the sparse deserts in northern Arizona and southern Utah. There was not a living thing to be seen for miles. We got so excited when we would see a goat Shepard and his flock. We also didn't use the AC much; with lots of bodies in the car + AZ summer temperatures = hot cranky kids and parents. Oh, but it was worth it. The last few miles we would get soooo excited we were about to see Grandma and Granddad Thompson. And every year my parents would say the same thing, "Grandma and Granddad don't know we're coming, let's sneak in and surprise them." It was obvious years later from their reaction that they did know, they were just playing along.
What we did in Fruita is a whole 'nother long post. I will spare you that now. The reason I mention this is because sometimes we couldn't make it up there. So some years my Grandma would pack up a box of surprises for her grand kids. Rarely did we get those boxes, but I sill remember how excited I got when I realized one showed up.
One time, my sister and I received homemade dolls my Grandma stuffed and stitched. My Grandma sewed little dresses for them with matching bonnets and they came with little black shoes. (My baby sister Rachel wore those shoes when she was a little baby). Ester and I also got a sugar and cream set one year, we split them up. I still have my creamer and baby doll. Ester still have her sugar bowl and baby doll. My Grandma also sewed many quilts, she was always working on one. I got a strawberry quilt with matching pillowcase. I used that blanket & pillowcase until they were worn out. I still have the pillowcase just to remember the fabric, it was hard throwing away the ratty blanket that I had for so many years. And every year we went, she would ask us if we needed another quilt.

These are just some of the memories I had of my Grandma Thompson. I write these things down for my posterity to know what good people they descended from. My patriarchal blessing says; "You have a choice heritage. You are descended from good people." The older I get and the more I learn about my ancestors the more I believe that. Sometimes that knowledge is what pulls me through trials or temptations. The desire to be like them.