Grandma and Me

Happy New Year to Everyone!

I decided to start the New Year with a Family Interest blog.  Cookies by Bess has been “live” now for about 6 weeks.  We’ve gotten such a great response from our family and friends all across the country.  We’ve heard from old friends of Bess and Abe in Wausau, WI, we’ve been reunited with friends from CA to FL and WI, and we’ve met new friends and from all over.  It has been so much fun and I’m so excited to keep the momentum going in 2018!

I’m excited to share with you a little bit about my thoughts as I began this cookie journey back in May.  This truly has become my passion, and I’m excited to see where it goes in 2018 and beyond…

I’ve thought about writing this blog “Grandma and Me” for quite a while. Actually, since I made the decision and committed to revitalize Cookies by Bess. Why? Well, let me try to explain. The best part about this whole project is that it’s real and authentic. Bess is/was my Grandma. She published Cookies by Bess in 1960, my parents republished Cookies by Bess in 1980, and I am now the third generation taking on the legacy. All of these pictures, stories, and recipes are true and real!

What I’ve struggled with is that yes, I am the next generation to bring Cookies by Bess alive, but I really didn’t have that close a relationship with my Grandma Bess, so is there really a “Grandma and Me”? I figured out the answer to this question…here was my thought process…

By the time I was old enough to remember much of anything, Grandma Bess and Grandpa Abe had moved to Los Angeles.  I saw them once, maybe twice a year if there was a big family event, but other than that there we weren’t that close…(This picture is in LA in 1981 for Thanksgiving at my Aunt Susie’s – Grandma, mom, and me)

I am very lucky to have such wonderful parents and family. (Family picture, one of many, in Santa Rosa, CA in the early 1990’s) The support I’ve received from my parents over my 53 years has been nothing other than never-ending love and encouragement. Even though I haven’t lived close to my family since my college years, I don’t think there has been a week gone by that my dad hasn’t called once, twice, sometimes three times to “communicate” the week’s events. No kidding! He used to call me at 7:00 in the morning just to check in before work or on a Saturday to see how the week went.

I will admit that when he called, I didn’t always answer the phone (I mean 7:00am on a Saturday…come on!), but I always called back later in the day or the next day. Most times, the simple check in call ended up lasting an hour or more, with both my mom and dad on the phone at the same time.  We chatted about the good and bad at work, in the news, in politics, or whatever else was happening that minute or day with the family or the world.

I mention this to help explain that, with my parents and family, we didn’t have to be together to be together or to “communicate” as my dad would say. We are family and we think about each other all the time. Whether we’re together physically or not, we’re together. For better or worse, happy or sad, sick or well, we’re together and we’re a family. And that’s the way I always felt about my grandparents.

Part of the reason I felt that way is because there were pieces and parts of my grandparents all around us as we were growing up. Whether it was the beautiful needle points Grandma Bess made (amazingly framed, lit and hung in our dining room) or the afghans she crocheted and we had in every room in our house, or the snapshots of them and other family also framed and hung on the wall in our office (there had to be hundreds of pictures hung in that office!)…my grandparents were always there with us is some way, shape or picture ?

As an adult, I think baking cookies has been my biggest connection with both my Grandma’s, even though they both passed away when I was in my high school/early college years. Baking was an important part of my family and our traditions. Grandma Bess had Cookies by Bess. Grandma Harriet baked Toll House Cookies EVERY time she visited. Even my great aunt Etta (on my mom’s side) baked! Her specialty was challah bread…can you imagine!

Over the last several years, I’ve also taken up knitting and am thinking about learning how to crochet. When I started knitting, I thought about my Grandma Bess and all the afghans crocheted. I’ve knitted lots of scarves, a couple hats, a shawl, and have attempted, without much success, mittens (no socks!). I’m thinking about crochet because I want to try making an afghan like my Grandma. So, I believe that even though she isn’t with us now, she is still a part of my life and I think about her all the time.

My Aunt Susie sent me these two pictures of Grandma Bess and me when I was a very little girl in Appleton, WI.  As you can see, I’m so little I have no memory of these times.  Regardless, I know they happened and I know that my grandparents were always thinking about us.

So, while my connection with Grandma Bess wasn’t necessarily close, she still runs deep in my thoughts and now in my daily life with my baking and this blog. The connection and closeness has always been there and will continue to be there forever.

Looking back to what I mentioned at the start of this post, I can now say that I’ve stopped struggling about all this…there absolutely is a “Grandma and Me”! I cherish the memories I have of all my grandparents and family. I am so very proud and happy to share some of the best with all of you!

I’d love to hear about special memories you have of your grandparents or family that you keep close to your heart and that you think about every day? Please share with me by going to our Join the Community page …I can’t wait to hear about them!

Until next time…
XXOO!
Janet