I have so many memories of Granny Goose, that I don't know where to begin. I always felt like I had a special bond with Granny..I think she had a knack for making all of the grandchildren feel that way. I will miss her dearly.
Granny was always dressed to the nines, makeup done, hair up in a perfect bun, beautiful clothes with matching shoes and purses, jewelry and perfume. You would rarely see her any other way. In fact, in my life...I only saw Granny with her hair down one time. She was standing at her dressing table in the old house on Pine Drive, brushing her long dark hair, then she quickly swept it up into the bun and pinned, pinned, pinned to make it stay perfect.
She always cooked amazing food..For Sunday Dinners with the family she would cook huge prime rib roasts with homemade gravy, mashed potatoes, rice, fresh black eyed peas (that she would put on to cook at 5am), and plate full of sliced cucumbers and black olives and some sort of made from scratch dessert like Italian Creme Cake. She also made some mean chicken 'n dumplins', smothered steak, and soup that we all asked for when we were sick....and that just a few of the wonderful things she cooked for us. She love to feed us, and it shows..hahaha.
We had many family dinners, events and celebrations at Granny's house...and her house was always so beautiful with a perfectly set table with her china, silver and crystal. Her beautiful little knickknacks perfectly placed all around her house. As children we were afraid to touch anything, but oh how we loved to dig through all of her stuff when no one was looking. We loved to put on her jewelry, scarfs, and other frilly stuff and pretend to be her. We had annual Easter egg hunts in her yard at the house on Pine Drive where they hid plastic eggs stuffed with one dollar bills...and then there were the Legg's Pantyhose Eggs that were stuffed with bigger denominations. I, being the youngest of the grandchildren, was often knocked down while trying to get the big egg...by mostly my sister, Samy. I don't know why she knocked me over for it, Toke always divided up the money evenly when we were done. haha. I remember running in and out of her house all day long, and just like it was yesterday I can hear the "squeaaaaaaak-slap" noise that the porch door made each and every time we let it slam shut...and one of my favorite memories was me, Samy and Granny building a giant tee-pee back behind the garage.
But most of all, I remember her making me feel very special and beautiful. She always told me she loved me, and I always told her, and she would say "I know you do, Dona. I know you love me." At least I'm at peace with the fact that I knew that she knew how much I loved her.
I love you Goose.