Me and Grandpa

My grandpa was the sweetest man. I remember I used to love to pretend I was a beautician. Grandpa would sit in a chair (and fall asleep) while I pretended to wash his hair and roll it in rollers. He actually let me do this. I have to laugh about it now because he only had a small patch of hair he combed over the top of his head. Otherwise he was completely bald.

My grandpa worked in a button factory and made buttons from mussel shells. They don't do this anymore. Every thing is done by machines now. But any way this was a very small factory of only 4 employees. I would go over there and watch as they loaded up the mussel shells on to the screens.

This is where they washed them and sorted them. The ones that they couldn't use I got to keep all I wanted of them. I would pretend there was pearls in them and I would go to town and buy things what ever I wanted. I would also use these for my dishes.

I remember making delicious pies in these from mud and some berries.Of course I only pretended to eat them.I made some really elegant dinners in my beautiful dishes. I sit a beautiful table too. Which consisted of cement blocks covered with a hanky for a table cloth. My oven to bake my pies in were also made of 2 bricks on top of each other.

During these hard times when money was low or non exist you had to use your imagination to make your play things. I didn't miss money then like I do now as I was quite happy with my "toys".

Today kids wouldn't dare play with these things. When I discuss making mud pies with mu grand children they look at me like I am crazy.

If kids today don't have there expensive electronic gadgets they think they are so "poor". If they only knew how we grew up.