Thanks, Grammy!

It was a cold rainy day in October, and the last thing Tonya wanted to do was what had to be done. Her Grammy had recently died due to complications from COVID-19, and it was time to clean out Grammy’s apartment. Grammy had lived in public housing in a small town in Florida. Tonya lived about 45 minutes away in Alabama. During the drive, Tonya reflected on her Grammy’s life. Grammy was an amazing woman. She was born in 1904 and had married young. She and her first husband, BJ, had seven children together one of which passed during childhood. BJ died six months after the last child was born. Which left Tonya’s Grammy to raise six children on her own. She worked as a tenant farmer to raise her children. She remarried when her youngest daughter was about 12 years old. She and her husband Harry had one child who also passed during childhood. Loosing a child can leave a person bitter and cold, but Grammy persevered. She was survived by all six children who made it to adulthood, 35 grandchildren and even more great grandchildren. While she never owned land or had much to her name, she always had enough. The thing Tonya admired most about her Grammy was she’d done all this on a third-grade education.

Some of Tonya’s greatest memories of Grammy were the times they spent together fishing, walking through the forest, and cooking. Grammy loved to fish, and she loved to tell stories…but never at the same time. You couldn’t talk while fishing. You’d scare the fish away. Grammy was a natural fisherman. She rarely cast a reel without hooking a fish. It was an amazing thing to watch as a child. In the meantime, Tonya, rarely caught anything when she was fishing with Grammy. One day the tides turned, and it was Tonya who caught twelve bass, eight catfish, and several brim. Grammy only caught a few brim that day, and she wasn’t too happy about it. Reflecting back that was the last time Grammy invited Tonya to go fishing with her. She was an incredibly competitive woman, a trait which was passed down the generations. Walking through the forest was always a treat with Grammy, she could point out a plant and give you the common and scientific name. Tonya doesn’t remember ever coming across a plant her Grammy didn’t know. Grammy was a great cook. She could cook anything and did. Raising children during the depression, she learned not to waste. If it were edible, she could cook it. You never knew what you were in for when you went for a visit. Tonya’s favorite memories of Grammy in the kitchen were when they’d get up and eat steak or pork chops for breakfast. Grammy always asked her in the morning, “What do you want for breakfast?” And whatever Tonya asked for is what was cooked.

Tonya pulled into the apartment complex saddened by the thought her Grammy wouldn’t be there to greet her and this would be her last trip to the duplex her Grammy had lived in for the last twenty or so years. She used her key to let herself in the kitchen door. Grammy had always used the kitchen door instead of going in the front door, so everyone else did too. The kitchen table was just as it had always been when she came for a visit. The table sat with the width end flushed to the wall. At the end snug against the wall were all kinds of treats, candy peanuts, chocolate covered cherries, sugar wafers, gum drops, just to name a few. She didn’t every remember seeing the whole table. Tonya threw away all the opened food and packed up the unopened for the food bank to pick up. It didn’t take too long to pack up the kitchen because other family members had already been and taken what had been left to them in Grammy’s will. She moved onto the living room when she finished with the kitchen, there wasn’t much to do in there either. Not much had been left behind. The antique sewing machine was still there, so she called her cousin Bonita to see if she wanted it. Bonita was the only one who spent anytime sewing these days. Tonya then moved onto the bedrooms. Grammy had left her two antique beds and two shift robes. No one had bothered cleaning out the closets, so Tonya started with those. She’d have to get help to move the other items anyway.

It was while Tonya was cleaning out her Grammy’s closet that she cam across a little black book in one of her Grammy’s hat boxes. Her Grammy had written the birthdays of all her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren in the front pages of the book. Then the pages were filled with beautiful sketches of flowers, birds, plants, and trees. Tonya had no idea her Grammy had been so talented. She studied each page with awe and newfound understanding of the woman she had always admired most in the world. As she neared the end of the book a small key dropped from the pages. Tonya recognized the key; it was to Grammy’s safety deposit box at the bank. She tucked the key in her pocket and kept looking through the little black book. The last page was a note to her from Grammy.

“Dear Tonya,

I know you’re the one who will find this book. Take the key and go to the bank. They know you’re coming to empty my safe box. This little black book and all the contents of the box are yours to keep.

Love,

Grammy”

Tonya was a little curious about what could be in the box because she knew her Grammy had been a woman of little means. She would check that out later. In the meantime, she continued to pack up Grammy’s clothes, hats, and shoes, so they could go to charities. The items couldn’t be passed on to anyone in the family because no one else was that small. Grammy wasn’t even 5’ tall. She was tiny. Once she had everything packed up, she called the Christian Closet to come and pick up the clothes.

Tonya had already arranged for movers to come and get the beds and shift robes the next day. It was getting late, so she went to grab some dinner and the diner just down the street. She would go to the bank tomorrow after the movers picked up the furniture. She didn’t have room in her tiny apartment, so she’d arranged to have the pieces stored at a friend’s home. One day she would have enough to make that down payment on a house. Then she’d have space for the pieces her Grammy left her.

The skies were a little clearer, but the temperature was blistering cold as Tonya headed to the bank the next morning. The head teller recognized her and before she had a chance to speak was flooding Tonya with condolences about Grammy. Everyone loved Grammy at the bank. Tonya asked to see the safety deposit box. The teller lead Tonya into a room beside the vault. The teller then took the key and a few minutes later returned with the box. Tonya opened the box and found trinkets from her Grammy’s life. Grammy’s first credit card…it looked like a dog tag. Grammy’s wedding bands. At the bottom in a yellowing envelop Tonya found something that would forever change her life. She opened the envelope carefully. It was old and she didn’t want to damage it or whatever was inside. She was astonished when she realized the old yellowing envelope held a $20,000 treasure bond. All her dreams of owning her own home would now come to fruition because Grammy made it so. “Thanks, Grammy!” was all she could think of as tears of surprise, happiness, and sadness rolled down her cheeks.