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Grandma, Of Course
I first met Grandma in 1972 when Bill and I had to go to Carthage for one of his mother's (Peggy Almond Green) great aunt's funeral. We stayed with Grandma and Aunt Martha. They were living in the "old house" off of Almond Street. We got there very late at night, past midnight, as the drive from Charlotte was about a 7 hour trip. I felt really bad arriving so late and waking the two of them up. But to my surprise, they were thrilled to see us and starting cooking the most ENORMOUS breakfast I had ever seen, country ham, fat back, biscuits, eggs, etc. I was so moved by their hospitality. That was my first of many wonderful memories of Grandma and Martha. The next time I visited they had moved to the Big House on Almond Street. What a wonderful comfortable home they had and of course the food was prepared in front of us at a non-stop pace. Both grand ladies always made you feel welcomed and loved. Grandma always having to kiss you on the lips when you arrived and when you left. She made many trips here to Charlotte, NC to visit her three sons, George, Jack and Sonny. I always looked forward to her visits. She always made time to come and stay a while with Bill and I. She would sit in the chair and make knitted houseshoes round the clock, never even watching her hands make the loops for the shoes. She loved to go out and eat, usually liked to eat at Red Lobster. While she was staying with Jack, she always prepared a big fat feast and had him and all his guys from Forshaw Chemical come up for lunch. How they worked with their bellies full from all the food amazed me. Then came the afghans!!!!! Of course as we all know, Grandma made each of us "ole timers" an afghan for our wedding present. Mine is beautiful and I have it stored in a chest to pass on to my girls when they get married. And the ponchos that she made were first quality. One of the ladies where I worked at the time saw my poncho and ordered 12 from Grandma. She completed the 12 in record time and sent them to the lady. This lady was so impressed with the work and timing that she purchased for Grandma a beautiful gold pin, made up of a spun bird nest with 3 little pearl eggs in it. When I sent the pin to Grandma as a thank-you, what did she do....she made the lady a gorgeous afghan and sent it to her as a thank you. That is how she was, you could not thank Grandma with a gift, or you would get a thank you thank you gift in return. I loved her and remember her as a pillar of the family who loved life and everything in it. I hate that times have changed and that families don't have a Grandma like her in their lives. They teach us many things, mostly love and patience. Peggy Campbell Almond |
Now how can anyone not add an "I Remember" about the sweetest
kindest member of the Almond family = Mary Iris Lefler Almond, a.k.a.
"Grandma"??