Unfinished Stuff

I have this bag of my Grandma Little's. It is full of some of her needlepoint and crochet projects that she never finished. This bag is precious to me and I love that it has unfinished things in it. Someday I can finish it and it can be something we did together. I remember the day I asked her to teach me how to crochet. I think I was about 22. She was not the most patient teacher and I thought it was funny that she was getting so frustrated. I'm not sure if she was frustrated with me, herself, my learning, or her teaching. She did end up teaching me a 'tear drop' stitch. It's still the only stitch I know how to crochet, but hopefully when I have a little more time I will learn more. I love afghans especially the one she made that I have. It's so nice and cozy to curl up with on a cool Fall afternoon. Seeing this bag and going through it reminded me of her so much and made me think of how much she would've loved her great-grandkids. All of my now gone grandparents would have gotten such a kick out of them!
My grandparents were and are perfect grandparents. They lived very close to us when we were growing up. My Grandma and Grandad Little (my mom's parents) lived a few blocks away and when we were older we could walk to their house. My Grandma and Grandpa Stambaugh (my dad's parents) lived about 10 minutes away and we spent most Sunday afternoons at their house. They spent time with us, they provided us with wonderful memories, they did not spoil us, and they always tried to be fair. They were perfect grandparents!
Grandpa Stambaugh raced horses as a hobby and behind his barn he had a horsewalker to exercise the horses on. My sister, Angie, and I would hook buckets up to one of the four arms of the walker and Grandpa would turn on the switch. Sometimes he'd turn it on too fast and we would be hollering at him to "turn it down Grandpa!" He'd act like he didn't hear us and turn it on faster or turn it completely off. Occasionally, while Angie and I would be happily bobbing along in our buckets, he'd put a horse or two on there with us. Race horses are high strung and are not necessarily pets, we were little (about 5 and 7) and pretty scared of those horses that were skittish, but he'd just say "oh they won't hurt you, you just be real still." Angie and I would start hollering and not dare get out of our buckets. Another time he had a horse he was wanting us to ride, it was a young horse, I don't think it was completely broke yet. Angie and I were running from him and decided to hide in the house. Do you know what that man did?! He brought that horse in the house! My Grandma started yelling, "E.G.!" Angie and I squealed and ran through the house!
One time Grandad Little was in the hospital and giving the nurses some trouble (big surprise). He and I were watching Sesame Street (not much on in a hospital and I don't think he was all himself just yet). This big hairy monster came on and he said, with this devilish grin on his face, "Hey, Lori, there's your boyfriend." Thanks Grandad! He was a mess. When I was in college I went through this period of losing a lot of weight. He told me that if I didn't start gaining weight that he'd "kick my ass." I started putting on some pounds very soon after that.
Grandma Stambaugh would babysit us and I always remember how she would read books to us and use voices for all the characters. The Three Billy Goat's Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and a book of nursery rhymes were never better. She is also a very creative person like my Grandma Little was. She sewed us some Halloween costumes and made us some shirts that she had painted on. Her house is always very beautifully decorated and smells like Vicks Vap-O-Rub.
These memories all started with me cleaning out a closet and coming across a bag full of unfinished projects. I put all Grandma's stuff back in the bag and put it right back in the closet for me to find the next time I clean it out.