My grandmother Helen was a remarkable woman. She received her nursing degree from Cleveland, Ohio in the 1930’s when women from tiny little backwater Indiana towns did not go away to school. She married a younger man and when she was 28, decided it was time to have a family, so she did. For the next 10 years she had four children and worked on the family farm with her husband, and had her mother-in-law living with them as well.
When I knew her, she was working as a nurse at a nursing home 45 miles from home. She would live there during the week and come home on the weekends. I remember her white uniform, shoes, hose and nursing hat when I would visit her and my great-grandmother at the nursing home.
She mentored me in cooking, handwork, and education. I was nineteen when she was accidently run over by her own pickup truck in her driveway. Her German Shepherd dog would not let anyone get close to her until her daughter arrived. She was 69 – five years older than I am now.
What are your memories of your grandparents? If you do not remember them, did you have an older person who mentored you in life? How do you use their lessons today?
What will my 10-year-old granddaughter remember about her grandparents when she is 64 years old? I hope she will remember this summer. She had swimming lessons from her Papaw at Peterson Air Force Base. Camp Como gave her the opportunity to wall-climb, night hike, and zipline as well as meet other girls in town. Scheels store’s Ferris Wheel was her first big amusement park ride that we did twice.
I hope she remembers that I taught her how to hike for fun, exercise and safety.
What to take in her backpack. How to read the compass. What does a downed tree mean when it crosses a path? How do you correct your hiking mistakes. Do you have enough water and food? When do you leave the mountain? Did you let someone know where you were hiking? What is bushwhacking?
What you need to always have with you (food, water, layers of clothing, first aid kit, good shoes.) What else you need for mountain hikes (poncho, matches, flare, more food, more water, bug repellent, bear whistle, hiking poles hiking boots and more clothes). If you are overnight hiking this list is much longer.
An old man’s grandchildren are his crowning glory. A child’s glory is his father. Proverbs 17:6 The Living Bible
I tried to keep my heart rate no higher than 110-120, but bushwhacking up the side of the mountain took my heart to 160 for a few minutes. No long term effect, but we had to rest for awhile.
She wants to hike again.
That gives me joy.