As a very small pre-elementary school kid Grandpa Burton would tend me, while my mom ran errands. First thing in the morning, Grandma Burton would fry up an egg, never breaking the yoke, and cooking it in about 1/2 cup of bacon grease. The edges would fry up to a very brown crispy edge. Grandpa would have his toast dipped into the yoke with I think it was coffee to swig it down. He would always have lip slime on the side of his mouth that he rarely wiped off. I could never figure that out, but even as a small child I thought that was rather funny. After breakfast, we would mess around outside, sometimes he would be working on an old car and I would just hang around and watch. After outside duties it would be lunchtime. It seemed that Grandma Burton was gone somewhere about this time and lunch would be up to Grandpa to fix. Always, always he would fix me a peanut butter and slathered honey sandwich, and a side bar of Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup. It was the best, because he would let me pick out my favorite handled spoon. My favorite was a Mickey Mouse silver spoon, and it seemed to be his favorite too! I don't know why that always made me feel so big, but it did. It was one of my favorite things to do. Sometimes later in the after noon when Grandma was home we would have a snack. Grandpa would eat peanut butter from a spoon while Grandma wasn't looking. That would always make me laugh to get one over on Grandma. If she caught Grandpa she would always scold him with "Howwwward", in an amused, very low, slow voice. Even as she voiced her displeasure, she had a half crooked smile on her face. They were funny.
Grandma used to tend us when Mom and Dad went hunting. There was an old iron bed in the spare bedroom that we slept in. As the night got older we got a little sillier and would start our circus act on the bed. We would run and flip, tumble and do acrobatic tricks until we became so loud, that Grandma would catch us and give us heck. We would promise to behave and quietly work up another circus act as if we had just lived through the intermission. She would even threaten to spank us if we didn't "settle down". EWWWW!
I remember Grandpa letting us, meaning Kathryn, Penny and I, rollerskate in the Zellerbach warehouse as we played "Hide and Seek". I must have been about 7 or 8. We would hide behind the tall shelves of paper as our "it" person hunted for us, all while Grandpa proceeded to do his janitorial work in the other office. I remember one Saturday hiding in a new place right by the warehouse office. Quietly I rolled around, positioning myself into a great spot, and just as I was settling down I looked up at the wall above my head and noticed a nudey calendar. My mouth dropped and I couldn't believe my eyes. "What in the heck was that doing here?" "What kind of a place is this?" We never told Grandpa, because it was too crazy, but oooohh what a day that was. Yuck!
I remember Grandma Burton's classic 50's high heel shoes, black, with fat heels. She would dress up, makeup and all and put those crisscrossed toed shoes on to go to work at the Paris. They were the coolest!
I remember the day I discovered that wives sometimes do quiet, underhanded things to keep their husbands from complaining. My mother, me, and Penny watched Grandma Burton cut the tag out of a new t-shirt that Grandpa Burton would wear. When I asked why we were doing that, Grandma replied that Grandpa wouldn't wear a shirt made out of certain fabric, so she cut the tag out and told him it was a different fabric she had bought on sale. What in the world? I had never conceived of this type of deception, but it has come in handy as I have gotten older and quite a bit more in need of calm.
Grandma Burton would take us every year to the Paris Christmas Party. The tradition was to watch "The Wizard of Oz", of which I have become quite attached, at Grandma's and then go to the party. After the fun of the party we picked out a wrapped present and took it home. They always had the best gifts and it was so fun to anticipate what was in the present every year.
The summer when I turned 16 we drove to Alaska. At one point we had to load the truck onto the ferry and travel up river. Grandpa and Grandma Burton were on the ferry with us and we started playing "Old Maid", the card game. After playing several hands Grandpa ended up with the "Old Maid". It was then that he realized that wasn't what you wanted to end up with. He started laughing, until he cried, all the while his glasses sliding down his little nose. I remember his teeth dislodging from the "polident" tight grip, which never seemed tight to me, and jiggling out of his mouth, back in, and then back out again. It was a site to behold. He was soooo much fun!
I miss both of them so much and all the weird fun we had. They made my childhood very memorable. It's great to have a loving, fun family. One that can throw an orange straight as an arrow on a dare and blacken the eye of another beloved. I guess that's what makes families unique and certainly memorable!
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