Once upon a time your Nana enjoyed visiting her grandma and grandpa’s house.  When she was seven years old her family moved back to the Midwest to live near relatives.   It seemed like almost once a week they drove the forty miles down to see her grandparents. Your great grandma  Audrey’s parents.

Grandpa Frank had worked in the oil fields of Illinois.  Grandma Cora was a terrific housewife.  Once he retired, the two of them created a rhythm for living which I envy today.  Grandpa became a devoted woodworker.  Picture frames, knick- knack shelves, foot stools, puzzles, lamps, and dining room tables grace our home today.
Grandma and Grandpa were extraordinary gardeners.  They raised most of their food even into their nineties.  On many a hot summer day, we would get a call.  Corn is ready.  Hop into the car to pick up bushels of shucked corn ready to take home to freeze.  When the super sweet corn seed came onto the market, corn on the cob couldn’t have tasted better.  My mother could eat 6 ears of corn in one setting.  Once someone fed me field corn, my goodness that tasted vile!   They also shared tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and green beans.  Grandpa also raised turnips, but he sold those to a local grocery.  You just can’t beat fresh produce.
Near the barn they had a hickory tree, during the winter evenings they sat together and picked out the nut meat of these tenacious nuts.  I never liked picking a hickory nut, it just didn’t  want to let go.  They provided us with quarts of nuts for our enjoyment.
Grandpa was in charge of mowing most of their land with his tractor.  Yet, Grandma always mowed right near the porch with the reel to reel mower.  I think she still used it until they moved into the nursing home.
Grandpa lived to be 101 and Grandma was 97 when she left us.   They both felt they had had a wonderful life.  I must agree.