Blueberry Coffeecake and Other Memories
Last night I lay in bed reminiscing about visiting my Grandma Perryman in North Ridgeville (a suburb of Cleveland) throughout my early life. I can't believe it's been ten years since my grandma passed away. So many memories were created in and around her house.
It took about three and half hours to drive from my hometown of Minster to North Ridgeville, Ohio, and it was always so exciting when we saw the huge "P" on the front of the house right before we pulled into the long driveway to the back side of the house. The house was designed by my grandfather and built when my dad was in elementary school. (My Grandpa passed away when I was 10 or 11.) It's a split-level house with a walk-out basement. We always entered the house through the basement door. We also slept in the basement at night. I remember that my parents slept on the pull-out couch and Meg and I slept on old cushions. I have fond memories of my Aunt Dinie and Uncle Scott singing songs to us before bed.
We spent a lot of time playing down there, especially with the Fisher Price Little People town and my uncle's Colecovision. Our favorites were the Smurf game and Jumpman Junior
The living room was in the center of the house, one level up from the basement, and one level down from the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms and bathroom. Like any kids, we loved running up one set of stairs, through my grandma's walk through bedroom, into the kitchen, down the other set of stairs, and up and around again. It wasn't a big living room, but we managed to cram a lot of family members into the relatively small space. My Aunt Dinie (our nickname for my Aunt Diane) would often play Hide the Thimble in that living room with us. Entertainment was simple and cheap for us back then.
My grandma was an early riser. She also wasn't very quiet in the mornings. She'd wake up the rest of the house with her clinking and clanging of pans and utensils preparing the meals for the day. She had a tendency to overcook everything, but Grandma Perryman made really yummy blueberry coffeecake. We could count on that (and chocolate chip bran muffins) at least once every time we visited. We'd gather around the big beautiful dining room table (although you'd never know, because it was always covered with a tablecloth), and gobble down fruit salad and coffeecake. By the way, my mom got the recipe for the blueberry coffeecake and has given it to me.
There was an in-ground pool in the backyard. We spent countless hours out there jumping, diving, swimming, splashing, and playing Marco Polo and water volleyball. My grandma also had a huge garden, and I loved snapping off the ends of the green beans and eating them on the pool patio. Many rounds of Bocce and croquet were played in the warm months, while Fox and Geese (a type of tag) was played during the snowy months.
That property was sold in 2004, so I obviously haven't been there since. I miss going there, but I am so thankful for all the great memories. I'm also grateful for the many family members that I am still blessed to see on a regular basis.
Oh, and this morning when I woke up, my mom had blueberry coffeecake in the oven for breakfast. 80)
It took about three and half hours to drive from my hometown of Minster to North Ridgeville, Ohio, and it was always so exciting when we saw the huge "P" on the front of the house right before we pulled into the long driveway to the back side of the house. The house was designed by my grandfather and built when my dad was in elementary school. (My Grandpa passed away when I was 10 or 11.) It's a split-level house with a walk-out basement. We always entered the house through the basement door. We also slept in the basement at night. I remember that my parents slept on the pull-out couch and Meg and I slept on old cushions. I have fond memories of my Aunt Dinie and Uncle Scott singing songs to us before bed.
We spent a lot of time playing down there, especially with the Fisher Price Little People town and my uncle's Colecovision. Our favorites were the Smurf game and Jumpman Junior
The living room was in the center of the house, one level up from the basement, and one level down from the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms and bathroom. Like any kids, we loved running up one set of stairs, through my grandma's walk through bedroom, into the kitchen, down the other set of stairs, and up and around again. It wasn't a big living room, but we managed to cram a lot of family members into the relatively small space. My Aunt Dinie (our nickname for my Aunt Diane) would often play Hide the Thimble in that living room with us. Entertainment was simple and cheap for us back then.
My grandma was an early riser. She also wasn't very quiet in the mornings. She'd wake up the rest of the house with her clinking and clanging of pans and utensils preparing the meals for the day. She had a tendency to overcook everything, but Grandma Perryman made really yummy blueberry coffeecake. We could count on that (and chocolate chip bran muffins) at least once every time we visited. We'd gather around the big beautiful dining room table (although you'd never know, because it was always covered with a tablecloth), and gobble down fruit salad and coffeecake. By the way, my mom got the recipe for the blueberry coffeecake and has given it to me.
There was an in-ground pool in the backyard. We spent countless hours out there jumping, diving, swimming, splashing, and playing Marco Polo and water volleyball. My grandma also had a huge garden, and I loved snapping off the ends of the green beans and eating them on the pool patio. Many rounds of Bocce and croquet were played in the warm months, while Fox and Geese (a type of tag) was played during the snowy months.
That property was sold in 2004, so I obviously haven't been there since. I miss going there, but I am so thankful for all the great memories. I'm also grateful for the many family members that I am still blessed to see on a regular basis.
Oh, and this morning when I woke up, my mom had blueberry coffeecake in the oven for breakfast. 80)
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