Differences

We've got house guests for the next two days.  Hubby's mom and aunt are visiting from Florida.  They came up north to attend a family reunion on Saturday and are making the relative rounds until they head back Thursday.  I enjoy talking with them about their family history. 

Ruth and Alice (Hubby's Mom)

Hubby's grandparents raised seven kids on a farmstead in Zumbrota MN.  Oscar Nelson worked at the local creamery, winning awards for his butter making.  Alice MacIntyre Nelson was a homemaker, breadmaker, jam-maker, etc.  Hubby has fond memories of spending summers at their house, playing with a horde of cousins and wandering wild around the countryside.  At night his grandma would tuck the horde into bed reading bible stories.  Three to eight young boys, depending on who was staying, sharing two double beds.  They'd run up the stairs to the tune of 'Shadrach, Meshack, and into bed you go!'

My father on the stairs.

My grandparents lived in a large house on Lake Harriet.  Despite living just 45 minutes away, we only visited them a few times a year.  Everything in their home was elegant and formal and tidy. We rarely spent the night, but when we did I slept alone in a small room.  I don't remember my grandparents ever tucking me in, let alone reading me stories.  My father was an only child, so there were no cousins to play with.  I do remember playing cards with my grandmother on the living room coffee table, but most of the time I just played by myself with a few of my father's old toys in the sun room.

Christmas, I think?  My father on the right.

I'm sure my grandparents loved me just as much as Hubby's loved him.  Different families, different lives.