So many memories... here is a start...

I have so many happy memories of growing up around Grandma. We only lived 3 blocks from her so walking, rollerskating, skate boarding, riding my bike to her house was a very common thing. I remember vividly her back yard and side yard, the swing-set with the Olympic rings and pull up bar, the hill covered with ivy that we were not allowed to roll down (but always did), the beautiful row of roses that she was so proud of, the garden, the apple trees, the raspberries, the blackberries, the rows of carrots and potatoes she would let me help her and my mom weed and water and pull out the ready ones. I remember our dog, Maggie, knew the way to her back door and was also a frequent visitor. My cat, Rainbow, was one of her cat Amber's, kittens. I remember how the hard candies in her pretty glass bowls with lids always stuck together, and when I would sneak one I would be disappointed by the black licorice ribbons and delighted by the lemon drops. I remember playing hours of Simon Says in the Den. She smartly taught me to use the soft pedal on her piano during sessions of 'chop sticks'. She taught me the baseline to 'heart and soul' and played it with me. I remember games of horse and free throw practices at the basketball hoop. Grandma was a really good shot. I remember walking to Willshire Market so she could get the newspaper. So many picnics at Multnoma Falls, the Willamette River, Rooster Rock. She wrapped her sandwiches in wax paper, we always had mayo, peanut butter and lettuce, or else turkey and cheese, or ham and cheese. I remember the cookie and pie baking with her, and how her house always smelled of something yummy like baked salmon or turnips or fresh bread rising. I remember Grandma being even keel, and stern but gentle with Andy and me. I remember sleeping in bed with her one time I stayed the night, and she kept the window open so the cat could come and go from the roof in the night. She had beautiful quilts on her beds and colorful afghans on the "davenports". I have never heard anyone but Grandma Dorothy use that word, "davenport". She was an ace at all card games and taught me many. I remember taking the train with her to Seattle, she loved the train. I saw some country western concert with her, I wish I could remember who but I hated country music. I think it was Merl Haggard or even Willy Nelson, someone big back then (80s) mostly I remember how she loved it. I remember all the paintings on her wall that she had painted herself. Nice ocean landscapes...one in particular on the wall in the hallway to the bathroom. Her bathroom, always stocked with Reader's Digests, was where I would sneak away to read the little humor blurbs people sent the magazine, and I always had to take a sniff of the lavender potpourri stuffed sachets. I remember that nut or coffee grinder near her rotary telephone that always fascinated me.
Then later in life after we moved away, she was so vigilant about sending letters and cards and gifts. I never had a better pen pal than Grandma, and when she started losing her site it didn't stop her. I would get letters with jumbled words, indicating to me that she had lost her place on the keyboard and was carrying on with the sentence.
Andy and I were talking about why we don't have more pictures of her back then. I think it was that she was just a common part of our everyday lives. Those pictures are just long strains of play-by-plays forever stuck in our memories.
Grandma is and always will be such a nice part of my life.