Growing Up Griffith Style
To me growing up included lots of good times. Especially when all the family would get together on Mom’s side of family. When everybody got together for weekends, summer, or holidays, we had great times. There were a lot of us cousins and when we were together, we played non stop, because we knew we had only a short time together.
There was singing, playing music, and dancing. I had several aunts and uncles who could play the guitar and they would pick and everyone would gather round on the floor and sing. We sang country and bluegrass mostly. Women or the Aunts would sit around the kitchen table at Grandma’s to visit when they weren't cooking. Men would sit outside around a shade tree with they were not fishing or frog gigging, or hunting. We usually had fish or frog legs and when the Aunts fried the fish we (the children) would snatch one hot piece as soon as came from the iron skillet. And there would be lots of fish or frog legs and it would be all dumped into paper bags. There was always lots of hush puppies and French fries to go with it too. Sometimes we would have crawfish at Aunt Edith’s house. And I can't forget the watermelon. Even though I never ate watermelon, it was always such a big deal with the other cousins. The adults would slice wedges for all the kids and they would have so much fun eating and spitting the seeds out!
Now if we stayed the night at someone’s house, there would be wall to wall pallets. We would stay up most of the night talking, playing, or telling spooky stories. When the aunts and uncles were visiting, we were no where around. We always found something to do, because we knew our time was limited. We played hide and seek, ball, or kick the can. We played on tire swings, rope swings, or climbed trees. We swam in creeks and ponds and built houses out of straw or bricks. We walked the tracks and hiked the woods and would stay out all day. We rode bikes and played in abandoned automobiles. We played dolls, dress up, and house. We had our own talent shows, or made lemonade to sell. We fished together off the banks of creeks.
And I have such fond memories of my Grandma. She could be loving, but she could sure fuss or whip you too. I didn’t live in the same town with Grandma, so I always enjoyed seeing her. She would always fix my hair in finger curls when I came to see her. I remember her hugs and her smell. She always had biscuits on the stove and loved to play the game Wahoo with us grandkids. She would let me sleep in her strawberry flannel gown and on her featherbed. She loved to talk and talked non stop. She loved to listen to the family sing. She was a good woman who had a hard life and gave life to 13 children and so many grandchildren. In the end, she was very lonely as she was widowed and her family had all left home and carried on with their busy lives and families. Grandma would complain in letters and conversations of the loneliness she felt. I miss Grandma and I dream of her often.
