My Grandma's Slips

I suppose you are wondering why I write so much about my grandmother. I do because she was such an interesting character, she had much to do with shaping my life, but most of all she was the soft version of my mother. She was quiet spoken, had a sense of humor that showed mostly with smiles, had lots of hugs for little girls, and she loved me. She called my little hands paddies. She would show me her hands that were thin and showed the veins. Then she would point out that mine were soft and had dimples where eventually my knuckles would show when I got older and had no veins showing. I look at my hands now and think someday soon I will have hands that look like my grandma’s.
I have mentioned before that my grandma was frugal to say the least. She and grandpa had money, but she wanted to save it in case, “hard times” came again. She often referred to the “dole” and the “poor farm”. The dole of course, was welfare, and the poor farm was located on several acres of public land where poor people went to live. There was nothing worse in my grandmother’s eyes than to have to do that. She came from a wealthy family and that would just not do.
My grandmother had several church or Sunday dresses. She would make them look new by putting new collars on them sometimes, but for the most part if they got worn, she would cut them up, take the sleeves out, shorten them and wear them for slips underneath her house dresses that she wore for every day.
Well, my grandma was a sight sometimes because her house dresses were flowered and so were her homemade slips. As she got older, she would wear the homemade slips to church. My mother would chide my grandma and tell her to wear her good slips. Grandma would be quiet, and I felt sorry for her because mother talked to her like that. But I did notice that Grandma did as she pleased regardless of what mother said and continued to wear the homemade slips.
When my grandmother died my mother found brand new slips she had given her still in the gift boxes and tissue paper probably as a birthday or Christmas gifts. I was with mother when she was going through Grandma’s dresser drawers. She just shook her head, and put the slips in a bag for charity.
I loved my Grandma. I am sure she is in Heaven visiting the other angels and having a good time.

NOTE: This is not only the only picture, but the only time I have seen her laugh. She loved my dad more than anything in the world. He probably said something to her that made her laugh for the picture.