Virginia was born in 1925 and has lived her whole life in the Nampa, Idaho area. In fact, the house that she was born in is still standing; but the house is no longer in the family, it was a rental. With the information that she was born in that house, I asked my grandma if she had her babies at home or in the hospital. Her response made me giggle, "Oh I'm not that ancient! I had them in the hospital."
The house that Virginia currently lives in was built on land that has been in her family for several generations. It is decorated so beautifully, and I told her that I have always loved her house. I learned than an interior decorator designed the inside for The Parade of Homes. Since Gerson and I just bought a house, and the purpose of our visit was to pick up some furniture that my grandma was giving us, we talked about my new house frequently. Gerson and I lived in three different apartments over nine years before we bought our house. I asked my grandma if she ever lived in any apartments in her early married years. She said no, that they lived in two houses in town before they built the house they have now - which used to be surrounded by farmland, but it is slowly being developed. There is now a neighborhood surrounding my grandma's land, and a hospital across the street.
When I was a kid, my grandparents adopted a stray cat that they named Jack. A few cats tend to find their way onto my grandma's farm, and she will feed them, and they call the farm home by returning. She has never let them into her house, but they can stay on the porch or in the shed. Jack was definitely the most friendly of the farm cats in my lifetime. He was always on the porch and let all of us pet and love him. The other cats trust Virginia only. I asked her if she has always had a pet. She told me no, that she's not a great animal lover, but they did have a family dog on their farm growing up. Even though she claims to not be an animal lover, I think my grandma at least enjoys the cats since she feeds them and allows them to be in the shed.
Virginia attended elementary school in a two-room school house. The first room was on the first floor, and the second room was on the second floor. Grades first through fourth were on the first floor/room and grades fifth through eighth were on the second floor/room. I asked my grandma if there were multiple teachers or just one per room. She said it was one teacher for each room/floor. I asked her if the teacher would apply the content to each level, and she said she couldn't remember those details. That was still definitely different from how school is now a days - even in rural areas.
Virginia went to Kuna High School for her secondary education years. She told me that she wanted to go to Nampa High School, but was in Kuna boundaries, and that made her angry. Kuna is where my Grandpa Elvin, her husband, grew up and lived at the time. When she told me that she had been upset to go to Kuna, I said, "Well, it looks like it all worked out since you met Grandpa, right?" She chuckled and said, "Yeah, it looks like it."
What got us talking about her high school was me asking my grandma if she drove, walked, or rode the bus to school. She said that she walked to elementary school, and took the bus to high school because it was so far away. Because women have been denied other rights and privileges in the past, I asked my grandma if there were any social problems with women driving cars when she was young, she said not at all. She learned to drive when she was very young so that she could help her dad on the farm. I asked her if teenagers had their own cars when she was in high school, like many do today. She laughed and said no, that there was only one family car in most families.
Virginia grew up in a very religious family. She told me that she was in a guitar club and part of the uniforms were slacks, which her dad would not allow her to wear. He did let her wear the slacks for performances, but that was it. Elvin grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Virginia converted to the Church several years after she married Elvin. I ask my grandma if Idaho was like Utah with a lot of members of the Church. She said no, that she didn't know that much about the Church before she met my grandpa. It didn't bother her that he was a member, and based on her words, I don't think the difference of religion was a hindrance to their relationship and marriage. I asked my grandma if the missionaries came and visited her when she became interested in the Church. She said that my grandpa just taught her and would take her to Church. Their oldest living daughter (they had three babies that went to Heaven early), my grandma Linda, was around 7 or 8 years old when the family got sealed, and she remembers going into the temple.
Virginia has been known as an excellent cook by her children and grandchildren. I asked her how she learned to cook. She said that she just watched her mom cook and learned from that. I wanted to ask her for more detail, but we got interrupted, and didn't get back on that topic. My mom told me that Virginia's mom, grandma Vassar, made homemade egg noodles that were delicious. The next time that I get to talk to my grandma I definitely want to talk to her more about her cooking experiences.
I have always had a good relationship with my grandma. While we were visiting, she got to see that my children have a similar relationship with my mom. I asked her if she had a good relationship with her grandma. She said, "Oh yes, but she lived far away." It turned out that "far away" was only five miles. I thought that was such a great perspective to learn, because my parents live 9 miles away, and I consider that pretty close. Virginia spent every summer with her grandma, and my mom spent every summer with Virginia, and Benjamin, Luna, and Lily spend every weekend with my mom all year around!
In one of the bedrooms of Viginia's house are some really special 4 generation photographs. The first photo is of my great-great-great grandma Bertha Bodle, my great-great grandma Bessie Vassar, my great grandma Virginia Hegstrom, and my grandma Linda Peterson (who was a baby at the time). The next photo is of grandma Vasser, Grandma Hegstrom, Grandma Peterson, and my mom Debbie Larson (who was a baby at the time). The next photo is of grandma Hegstrom, grandma Peterson, my mom, and me (I'm a toddler). The final photo is the four of us twenty years later with Benjamin. I love this collection of photos. It's such a special tradition to do these four - and now five - generation photos. We also have some with Luna and Lily in them as well, they just aren't framed.
I'm so grateful that I was able to learn so much about my grandma and enjoy such a conversation with her.
No comments:
Post a Comment