Memories

I just got back out of bed after spending half an hour laying there with my eyes closed thinking I could sleep if I just tried hard enough. It almost worked then my brain started thinking about the this that and the other thing and that was that. I started thinking about my grandmother and you know the little things you remember and how important those things are. Like I was telling someone today about this button box my grandmother had. It's really such a simple thing but it's my most memorable thing about her. Every time she got an outfit the extra button went in the box, every time she threw away a shirt the buttons went in the box, buttons off her army uniform went in that silly little box. I remember spending hours playing with grandam buttons. We would count them when I was learning to count, and sort them by colors when I was learning my colors. When I got older some of the more special buttons had stories to them. I think I'm going to start my own button box for my kids. It's such a silly little thing but it always meant a lot to me. At first I thought I had so few memories of my grandmother but the more I think of it the more and more little things keep coming back. Like helping her plant trees in her yard one year and having my sister chase me with the hose. Or the year we painted the patio furniture and painted our shoes to match. Grandma said they looked great but mom didn't think so...they were umm rather stiff afterward. I remember always getting candy when we went to grandmas house, that was something really special because it wasn't allowed at home. I remember the summer she would come and pick me up every single day and take me to her house to teach me how to take care of her flowers. Every Halloween we would trek into grandma's house for a big family get together and trick or treating. We would lay on the floor at the end of the night with our candy and grandma would sneak a piece of two and laugh at us. I know I wasn't there for her like she was for me but loosing her has taught me how important it is to know your grandparents. I guess it's true you don't really appreciate things until they are gone.