Great Grandma S Grand Old House

Great Grandma’s Grand Old House

“C’mon Kiddo. Get with the program!“ urged Chris O’Day, coaxing her daughter, Louisa, out of the back seat of the family van. After an hour long drive they had finally arrived at Great Grandma Edward’s house on North Shore Drive. Louisa was trying to gather up her books and papers, pencils and crayons and stuff them into her back pack. “We’ve got a very big job ahead of us, ” said her mother. Mike O’Day was already on the back porch, a large heavy tool box in hand.... a man on a mission. Chris grabbed the back pack and helped 6 year old Louisa as she jumped from the door of the van to the ground, clutching her bear, Malcolm. Louisa then reclaimed her pack, slung it over her shoulder and tried to keep up with her mom, who was making her way speedily across the driveway toward the house pulling a large black suitcase behind her. “And what’s you’re “job description” for today?” Chris quizzed Louisa as they approached the back porch..... “Stay out of trouble...... Stay out of the way...... and find something to do,” was the sober reply. Just then Louisa’s Grandma greeted them from the kitchen door where Mike had just entered the house. “Need any help, Ladies? Let’s take this stuff right up to the guest room, shall we?” she said as she took the back pack and gently nudged Louisa through the big dining room toward the front foyer of the house, where the three of them started up the long stairway. “Let me show you to your quarters”

Carole Williams was “Mom” to Chris and “Grandma” to Louisa. “Gee, Louisa you must have grown at least 2 inches since Christmas,” chatted Carole brightly as they made their way down the hallway. Mmm Hmm, Mumbled Louisa absently. She never knew what to say to that remark and her attention was diverted by the many framed pictures that covered the walls of the hallway. “Oh, Mom!” remarked Chris, “ You’ve already started working on your Rogues Gallery!” “Yes!” beamed Carole. “It was our winter project. Mom and I have been having great fun with it but now it’s time to put it on the back burner and concentrate on getting moved in.”

It was a “grand old house.” Everybody said so. Great Grandma Louisa Edwards had lived in this house for over 50 years. The Edwards family had moved into the house when Carole was 12 years old. It was a stately old home even back then, built around the turn of the century. Six year old Louisa remembered coming to this house several times during her young life for family gatherings. There were always lots of people. The Edwards family was pretty “extended “ with all the Aunts and uncles and cousins. This weekend was different in that there was a fairly small group in the house and they were there to work. Louisa was the only kid and she was feeling a little sorry for herself. Her brother Ryan and her sister Hannah got to go to their friends’ homes for the weekend. Louisa was going to be stuck in the house with a bunch of busy grownups and no one to play with.

Since Carole’s father, Robert Edwards, had passed away five years ago and her husband, Kent was going to retire they had decided to put their house in the suburbs up for sale and move into the big house with Carole’s mother. They both had dreams of trying some new things while they still had some “Get up and Go.” Carole adored the old house and she had some dreams and schemes in mind for the house as well. Her mother was about to turn 85 and was surely going to be needing her help now, and the house was way too big for one person. Moving day was just 2 weeks away. There were still some rearranging and repairs that needed to be done before they moved in. Family members who lived within driving distance had been pitching in on weekends to help. This weekend Carole was grateful to have the help of her handyman son-in-law, Mike O’Day, and her daughter, Christine.

“Louisa, you can have this room” Carole said as she opened the door to a pretty room with pale gold and blue butterfly wall paper and a cozy day bed heaped with lacy ruffled pillows. The room had been redecorated since the last time she saw it. There used to be a lot of dolls in there but they were gone now. Once Great Grandma had scolded her and her cousin Allison for sneaking in there to look at the dolls. Louisa was glad the dolls were gone now. She sure wouldn’t want to sleep alone in a room full of dolls. That would be creepy! She laid her back pack on the bed but kept ahold of Malcolm and followed her Mom toward the room where her parents would be staying. Carole turned to her and asked. “How’d you like to watch TV in the TV Room?” Louisa knew where that room was. She and her cousins and brother and sister had spent quite a few pleasant hours in there watching movies like the “Lion King” and munching popcorn. Those images came to her mind as she followed her Grandma into the cozy little room with comfy sofas lining the walls. Grandma had already flipped on the TV with the remote and said “Look..... Cartoons! “ It was Saturday morning and sure enough there was an animated action adventure show about some kids that were traveling through space with their alien friends, fighting with alien enemies. When Grandma left, closing the door to the TV room Louisa felt a chill of loneliness come over her. She was wishing she had her back pack with her. She wanted to draw or look at the library books The cartoons were kind of scary. The noise of the TV reminded her of Saturday mornings at home when her brother Ryan would turn on the TV and watch those Saturday morning shows. She preferred to play in her room. She was just wondering what to do....whether she should try to figure out how to turn off the TV or go get help... when the door opened slightly and her Great Grandma’s wrinkled face peered down at her with a stern look. “Turn it down.” She scolded “It’s too loud”

“OK,” said Louisa meekly, reaching for the remote. She saw the “Power” button, pressed it and the Space Kids vanished into welcomed silence. But the room was dark and lonely so Louisa stepped cautiously out into the hall. Great Grandma had vanished too. Louisa decided to go downstairs and see if it would be OK to go outside and play. Grandma was singing cheerfully in the kitchen while she sorted utensils into various boxes. “Sure! Why don’t you play in the backyard for a while?” She said encouragingly as she opened the back door for Louisa.

The big back yard was a wonderful place to explore when there were other children to play with. Louisa walked along the path directly toward the glider swing at the back of the garden. She saw Great Grandma’s big Tom Cat, Gorgeous George, slinking along the fence. “Hey Kitty. Kitty” said Louisa. The cat gave her an indifferent glance and kept on going. A Robin landed on the fence a few yards from where Louisa was standing, cocked his head at her, noticed the cat and flew away again. Louisa climbed onto the glider swing. It was a favorite spot for her and her cousin Allison to spend an hour or so just talking and rocking their baby dolls, whenever the weather was pleasant. But now there was only little Malcolm to talk to and today there was a cold March wind blowing. She could feel it through her thin jacket and her ears were starting to ache. Louisa slid down from the glider and hugged Malcolm tightly as she headed back to the house.

“This is going to be the longest day ever,” she thought, as she came back in through the kitchen door. She could hear her mother talking to her Grandma in another room saying, ”She’s always been very good at entertaining herself.” Louisa sighed. Hearing her mother say that about her... she wondered how in the world she could entertain herself today. She climbed the stairs to go back to the guest bedroom. On the way she studied some of the pictures on the wall in the hall way. There were a lot of what seemed to be wedding pictures. There were many portraits, and family groups. Some of the faces were familiar. Some were not. Some seemed very old because they were not in color.....Pictures of very serious people in old fashioned cloths. She recognized a framed collection of school pictures of her Mom. There was one set of her Uncle Matthew and one of Uncle Marcus too. Twelve pictures in each collection. She smiled when she saw a picture of the whole family taken last Thanksgiving. There she was next to cousin Allison in the middle of the front row.

Back in the Butterfly guest room she dug into her back pack and brought out 2 library books. She had chosen them because she liked the pictures. They were not the easy-to-read kind...... Lots of big words. But she liked to look at the pictures and imagine what the story was about. The pictures gave her ideas of things to draw. She climbed up on the day bed and began slowly leafing through one of the books.

At lunchtime grandma made some sandwiches. The kitchen table was piled with packing boxes and other stuff. Grandpa Williams and her dad took their food and drinks back to wherever they had been working. Louisa, her Mom and Grandma ate, holding paper plates on their laps. She wondered where Great Grandma was.

Every room on the lower level seemed to be in a state of disarray, ready for painting or being packed up for a move. It seemed safer to stay upstairs, so after lunch Louisa headed back upstairs to the Butterfly room. She took out her colored pencils and a sketch pad. There was a picture of a cat in one of the library books. She drew the cat. Then she drew some flowers with a fence behind them. She drew a robin sitting on the fence, She was pleased with her drawing and she wanted to show it to her Grandma. She would ask Grandma if it was OK to have a look around the rest of the house. She took everything out of her back pack and put Malcolm in so that his head and arms were out, so he could go exploring, too. She put on the back pack, picked up the drawing and went down the stairs and back to the kitchen. There was no one there. She noticed a corridor off the kitchen that she hadn’t noticed before. “Maybe Grandma is in here,” she thought as she quietly tip toed down the corridor opening the doors and peeking in as she passed. There was a pantry...... a small bathrom.....a laundry room.....a storage room.

When she opened the last door on the left she saw something that quite amazed her--about a hundred dolls! They stared at her from inside large glass display cases that surrounded the doorway. Beyond the cases she could see that this was a large well lit work room. The instant she saw the dolls she wanted to run away. Her mothers instructions, “Stay out of trouble,” flashed through her mind, but before she could close the door a voice from inside to her right said “Hey!” She turned to see Great Grandma sitting at a table in the middle of the room. “I...I was looking for Grandma” she whispered nervously. Great Grandma looked a little stern for a moment and then she smiled. “Come in Louisa” Would you like to look at the dolls?” Very relieved that Great Grandma was not cross with her, she nodded meekly. Great Grandma rose from her chair and came toward her . She switched on a light and the dolls were suddenly brightly lit. They were fascinating as always but their eyes were a little scary. “You’re getting to be a big girl, aren’t you Louisa” said Great Grandma. “Yes I am, “ said Louisa feeling honored that she was now old enough to be invited to look at the dolls. “What do you think of them,” asked Great Grandma “ I like their beautiful hats and dresses” she offer shyly. There were so many of them.... all sizes ....elaborately dressed in soft colored garments. It was a bit overwhelming for Louisa to take it all in. Then her eyes were drawn to one lithe doll. Though she was small she stood out from the rest. Her clothing was simpler than most. She had a short dress with ruffles and a big ribbon bow in her hair instead of staring straight ahead she glanced to the side. “That’s Antonia,” said Great Grandma. “She was given to me by my Grandmother when I was about your age She’s made of wool felt . She came from Italy. Do you know where Italy is?” she asked. “Across the ocean?’’ Louisa ventured. She knew it was far away and “sunny” and Pizza and Spaghetti were invented there. “That’s right, “ said Grandma. Would you like to come in and see my workshop? “Do you make dolls here?” inquired Louisa, noticing little heads and arms and legs on some of the shelves of the work room. “Yes, I make some....and I repair some...and I dress some. Have a seat,” she said, pointing to a chair next to her work table and sitting down. There were doll parts in front of her and she began rubbing a small head with a piece of cloth. “I’m sorry I was cross with you this morning, Louisa. I always take a nap about 10 o’clock in the room next to the TV room. I’d just dozed off when the noise of the TV woke me up.

Louisa was wriggling out of the back pack and trying to get comfortable on the chair. “That’s OK,” she said as she lifted Malcolm out of the pack.

“Who’s this little fellow?” inquired Great Grandma.

“His name is Malcolm,” answered Louisa

“What color is Malcolm...... sort of a Sky Blue Purple?” she grinned.

Louisa giggled. “Purple is my favorite color”

“Well, Malcolm is a charming fellow,” said Great Grandma, carefully studying the bear. His face has a lot of character, and he’s made of real mohair.”

Louisa looked at Malcolm. His eyes twinkled at her. She was very surprised to have a grown up take so much interest in her bear. She thought Malcolm must be surprised too. Louisa noticed a tray with lunch remains on the table. “I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts and anti-social since my house has been invaded,” confessed Great Grandma to the little girl who vaguely understood what she meant and in her way, was sympathetic.

Then Great Grandma sighed and said “Actually I’m just trying to stay out if the way...... and stay out of trouble.

Louisa just smiled and said “Me too.”

The little girl and her Great Grandmother had a lovely time together that afternoon. They talked about so many things. Back in the kitchen, Louisa showed her Geat Grandma and her Grandma the drawing that she had made. ”Is that the sassy robin that lives in our old Oak tree? He and his mate come every year.” said Great Grandma Then she and Grandma sang a song about the Red Red Robin and made Louisa laugh.

Later in the afternoon they had a little “Tea Party” and Antonia was invited to have Tea with Malcolm. Great Grandma let Louisa hold Antonia because she’s “not breakable.” Louisa was very, very careful though.

They looked at the pictures in the hallway and Grandma told her some stories about the people in them. There was one old picture of Great Grandma when she was 14 with her 2 little sisters, Charlotte and Anna. “I made Anna’s dress all by myself. Spent a good month on it.--the first dress I’d made without my mother’s help”, boasted Great Grandma. “It’s a very pretty dress” said Louisa. Great Grandma looked at Louisa thoughtfully for a moment and said, “I still have that dress.....Wait a minute.” And she disappeared down the hall. In a few minutes she was back carrying a little blue dress with pretty lace trim hanging on an old wooden hanger. “It’s in pretty good shape, for as old as it is.” Would you like to try it on?” she asked Louisa “It’s about your size! “ “Sure!” said Louisa. And I’ll be very, very careful!” Great Grandma smiled and helped Louisa put on the dress. “Oh”, “It goes with your eyes”. She said “Anna had blue eyes like yours.” Her own eyes twinkled with delight in these fond memories. They went downstairs to show the rest of the family. Grandma said, “What a little Lady.” Great Grandma let her hold Antonia again while Grandma took her picture. It was the best day ever!

“Do you know that you were named after me?” asked Great Grandma “Yes. I know,” said Louisa. “Your mother used to call me “Grandma Lou” when she was little. Why don’t you call me that? And I’ll call you “Little Lou.” Louisa nodded and smiled in agreement..... and so that’s how little Louisa Eileen O’Day came to be called “Little Lou.”