Little bits

Every day around me there are little bits of loved ones.  Some of the ones I use most frequently belonged to my Grandma Smith.

I can still see this stack of bowls in the corner of her counter, stacked and ready to be filled with potato salad or fresh cucumbers and onions from her garden.

And these are the pots she cooked with most.  I'm sure the original handles had long since been broken and were replaced by these wooden ones from my grandpa.

She could be a mean old woman.  Never shy to say if you were getting fat.  But I loved her.  I'd spend a week at a time with her during the summer.  Once I was woken up by her making this strange bird call at 7 in the morning!  In the summer!  Trying to attract a cardinal and I'm sure failing miserably.  But still she tried. (birdie, birdie, birdie)  I can still remember the way her house smelled.  And still wanting to go and stay, even though I know ghosts roamed at night.  (truly...stairs don't creak by themselves one at a time....)  I miss her.

I hope everyone has little bits of their loved ones.  Sometimes physical reminders are so nice, especially when a lot of time has passed.  It makes them feel more real, instead of just a memory.