Who I Identified With as a Child
I think I identified most with my Grandmother Giebrich. We visited Grandma and Grandpa often at their home in Indianola, Iowa, a small town south of our town, Des Moines. I especially remember her in the kitchen with several of her grown daughters. She was in charge and giving directions: "Doris, would you please mash the potatoes, here's the masher." "Lela, would you take the roast out of the oven? You always do such a nice job carving it. Would you do that?" "Florence, would you open this jar of pickles for me? Here, Dear, put some in this dish. I always like to use this little pickle fork. Thank you." And on and on.
And then later she and Grandpa would be sitting in the living room. They would be like the King and Queen. Someone would come in with a plate of cookies and serve them first. Then someone would say, "Mom, could I get you some more lemonade? How about you, Dad?"
I looked forward to the day when I could be in charge, and be waited on. My goal was to be a Grandma; nothing about being a Mom yet, just go directly to being a Grandma.
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| Flora Alice Cook Giebrick |
