GParents

The past few weeks I realized how lucky I am to have all of my grandparents living...I am so grateful to have a relationship with all of them. Everyone lives in Texas, so I talk to and see them all pretty often!

This is my brother, sister and I with Mimi at her 80th birthday party this November.

My Mimi is my "typical" grandmother...She wants you to hold her hand when she is walking down the stairs, gives you "sugar" and make sure you have enough blankets when you sleep at her house. She calls me often and always likes knowing what is going on. We talk about movies, going dancing and what everyone is doing. She loves to hear funny stories and somehow my cowboy boots come up during most phone calls! ha! She LOVES to celebrate and has many friends that she "parties" with and there is always cake involved. She is a *little* gullible, so we usually play tricks on her and she just cracks up. She lives in Lubbock and was a big part of my life during college. She invited me over for dinner or lunch often, and everytime you come you have to sign her guestbook. She also taught me to love pictures and sticky-notes!



This is Papa and I at McAllister's Deli in Lubbock.

My Papa loves to "DO" for others. He likes to cook for you and fix things for you. He picked me up every rainy, snowy, windy or really cold day in college because he didn't want me to have to walk from the parking lot to the building though rough weather. I came to Lubbock to see Mimi and Papa when I was 5 and was going to fly home all by myself on a commerical plane - our neighbor was the pilot. It was all worked out, Dwayne, the neighbor pilot, would walk me onto the plane, show me the cockpit and my seat then we'd fly an hour home to Dallas. Except I got really scared when Papa took me to the airport, so he bought a ticket and flew me home. He taught me all the card games I know and is a Human Map. We always quiz him on the location of small Texas towns. He has great childhood stories. When I call him it always starts like this: "Yello?" ... "Hi Papa!" ... "Hey Babe!" ....

This is Corinne and I "cheezing" it at my aunt's birthday party this summer.

Corinne is my Mom's Mom and we call her by her real name. She lives in Dallas. She is my "atypical" grandmother. She drives a SUV, wears Uggs, is in wine clubs and works for a fashion agency. She has lots of quirky sayings and is easy to impersonate. Because she lives close, we see her alot...She took us to the Dallas Children's Theatre for many year and after college she took me to Europe for 10 days! Corinne makes some great meals and one MEAN tiramasu. She says doesn't like playing games, except she really does...I think she just doesn't like being on a team, because she always just hollers out the answers from the other room! She is not know for Lovey-Dovey notes, her cards are usually sign "YFM" - Your Favorite Mother, or grandmother for our generation, which has become her trademark.


This is Bum, my cousin Paul and I celebrating our birthdays a few weeks ago. (They are all within 2 weeks of each other.)

Bum is my Mom's Dad and lives with his wife in Houston. I stayed with them while I completed my internship at MD Anderson. That was a tough summer and he was my life line. He always has wise, well-thought-out advice for me. He is a good story teller and remembers lots of details. He is genuinely funny and always laughs at my stories. He just turned 80 and is probably in better shape than I am. Every summer, he takes bike rides with his brother across different parts of the United States. He likes a good burger or steak, grapefruit and watermelon (but maybe not at the same time.) His favorite holiday is Valentine's Day and he is really good about sending cards for special occasions. Bum always calls me (and the other girls in our family) "Sweetheart"...He is pretty easy to impersonate too! His childhood nickname was "Bum" - that is what his brother and all the grandkids call him!

I am very gratful to have a great relationship with all my grandparents. Are your grandparents living? Do you have good memories with them?