Grandma's Place

Today was one of my crazy busy, early morning, meeting kind of days.  I left my house while it was still dark outside and strained my eyes the entire drive to Owensboro on the search for runaway deer.  Back to back meetings and catching up on emails and phone calls from vacation, found me hours later hungry and well past lunchtime.  I left the office with errands to run and nearly skipped lunch all together, deciding it would just be easier to have an early dinner and call it day. 

Something told me though to call my Grandma and see if she'd eaten yet.  I expected to her laugh and say, "well yes, hours ago" as she's a bit of a predictable lady.  In the summer, you can tell it's a Thursday, as you'll see her mowing her grass.  If it rains, it throws her week all out of whack!  So, I was surprised to hear her say no.  I decided to take my earned lunch hour, grabbed something at the nearest drive-thru, and drove the couple blocks from my office to her house. 

I realized how much I'd missed her, as I settled in to my saved seat at her kitchen table.  It didn't take us long to catch up on the family gossip and other worldly news.  Having lunch at Grandma's, even if from a brown paper bag, is so much better than eating in the car or at my desk! The familiar comfort of being with her was such a welcome and needed break in my day and I'm so glad I took the time to stop and see her.

There was a time when "Lunch at Grandma's" was a daily occurrence.  When I was attending college, I would often stop in to have lunch or dinner, or both, with Grandma and Grandpa.  Once I started working at the college, I continued my lunchtime visits at Grandma's and looked forward to the daily special.  My colleagues would often ask, "what did you have for lunch?" or "where did you go?" and the yummy descriptions I gave had them asking, "Where is this restaurant, it sounds great!"  We still chuckle that they thought it was an actual diner, not my actual Grandmother's house.

When I changed jobs to ACS, my lunch schedule became unpredictable, as I never knew what county I would be in from day to day.  Our regular visits for lunch became less and less.  We still try to get together every other month or so, sometimes at her house and sometimes I'll treat her to lunch on the town.  I miss my daily visits though.  Aside from the delicious home cooked meals, even if they were often leftovers, what I loved most our lunch dates was the time spent with a special lady.

I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful grandmother.  Grandma Coons has been a constant in my life, a living example of unselfish love and unwavering faith.  I will forever treasure my memories with her, from dressing up in her nightgowns and shoes... to cooking with her in the kitchen... to never beating her at Chinese checkers, and of course, Lunch at Grandma's.