An Old Lady Pinched Her Cheek!

 Grandma Lu found her way into the room where she was to tell her story at the library. Already people were sitting in chairs waiting for her. They had heard about her story telling from the old days of Marleewood. They knew that she loved children, but didn't know much about her otherwise.

Betty and her son, Joey, were there also. Grandma Lu met Joey's eye and waved at him. He waved back and grinned. "You like that lady, don't you, Joey?" his mother asked. "Yeah, she's okay. She reads books a lot. That's not much fun either, cause she reads books that don't have pictures. Both times I've seen her here. I like books with pictures. The kind that you pick out for me, Mom." Betty gave him a quick hug and motioned for him not to talk because the room had gotten quiet. Grandma Lu was going to begin.

"Hello, My name is LuAnne Lizotte, but most folks call me Grandma Lu. I love to read books, write books, and tell folks about the really good ones that I have read, and I also love to tell folks about my childhood. Today I am going to tell you about a book called Rondo Items a book that a lady I know compiled from letters and notes from a long ago town called Rondo. Rondo is no more and I will tell you why I think that is so. I will also tell you about the three things that Rondo had that will probably last many life times even though the town itself is gone. She looked over the audience and spotted Joey.

"Joey, this book has lots and lots of pictures. See I read books with pictures too." The audience chuckled and Joey kind of squirmed in his chair. Grandma Lu picked up the big book. On the cover was a picture of a store/gas station combination. Grandma Lu started out by saying behind the door of this little store is a treasure of memories. Memories that thank goodness folks have written down so that they will always be remembered. But these memories were meant to be shared. Today that is my job. I am going to help these folks share their memories with you and by doing that I am going to share some of mine that were very similar."

"Another building that was most important to this little community was the church. It was called the Mission Chapel Baptist Church. It was established in 1858. That's over 168 years ago. Later on it was renamed Rondo Baptist Church. Most everyone in the community attended the church even in bad weather. Some folks walked, some folks rode a horse, and others brought their children in a wagon pulled by one or two horses. In later years of course, folks arrived in cars.

Grandma Lu went on to say that the church was small, but sturdy. It had about twenty people that went to church on Wednesday nights after supper and in the morning on Sunday for Sunday school then church services probably about eleven in the morning. Folks often brought their lunches with them and had picnics when the weather was nice. When I was a little girl my family went to a small church as well. We also went to church on Wednesdays, Sunday School and Church services.

Grandma Lu's story telling was always very informal. Folks would occasionally raise their hands to ask questions. Grandma Lu loved this and would often stray off the subject matter. Joey noticed that people were raising their hands and so did he. Grandma Lu said, "Yes, Joey. What is your question?"

Joey said, "You went to church a whole bunch. Did you like going to church all the time?" Grandma Lu laughed and said, "No, I didn't. You see there was an old lady there that thought I was cute as a button. She always wore a hat with a veil and her hands were old and wrinkly. She would say to my mother, "Gladys, your little girl is just cute as a button and she would pinch my cheeks "til they hurt something fierce. So that part I didn't like one little bit. When I complained to my mom she would say, "Oh she means well. I'll make it better." Then she would kiss me on the cheeks and chuckle. I have a little secret for you, Joey. My mother's kisses didn't make the pain go away." The audience laughed and some even rubbed their own cheeks remembering their own pinched cheeks from long ago.

Joey whispered to his mom, "I would stay home from church and watch it on tv."

Other children were raising their hands as well. One little girl said, "Why didn't your mother make her stop pinching your cheeks. That wasn't nice."

Grandma Lu smiled and said, "Oh in those days so many years ago. The elders were respected and some of their odd ways were ignored. However, my complaint that day made my mother aware of what her older friend was doing. She seemed to quietly arrange for me to be with my dad thereby escaping "The CLAW!" She put her hands in the air in a claw like fashion. Everyone laughed and imagined the old lady with claw like hands.

The children thought Grandma Lu was funny and settled in for the rest of her story. Betty sat in her chair listening to every word that Grandma Lu said. She watched her face and her expressions. She just knew that she had somehow met or knew this older lady somehow.

Grandma Lu asked the audience if any of them knew of the little town called Rondo, Missouri or had any relatives from there. One hand  was raised. Grandma Lu was so surprised to see her. It was her old old friend, Grandma B..Marlee's grandma. Well, this will be interesting.

Story Time At The Library

 Betty had put down the book that she had checked out at the library and was playing with her little boy, Joey. His trucks and cars had been having a contest to see which was the fastest and which one was the hardest worker. Some of his trucks could carry three of his cars! He had to teach his mom all about the cars and trucks. She didn't seem to know much about them. He grinned and said, "Mom, how about we go get some ice cream? I think you are getting tired of playing trucks. You really aren't very good at it."

His mom thought about it for a minute and said, "I think that's a great idea. Get your shoes on and let's see if they have split cones. I love chocolate and vanilla together."

In no time they were in the car headed for McDonalds. The road department was putting in new sidewalks for a few blocks next to the highway so there were times when the flagman would stop the traffic because only one side could go at a time. When they got close to the library there was a sign that said that there would be a story time on Saturday. "Hmm, Grandma Lu is going to be telling a story Saturday, Would you like to go and listen to some stories this weekend, Joey?"

Joey told his mom that he would if the stories were about trucks or dinosaurs. Those two things were his favorite. Betty decided that she would call the library and see what the stories were going to be about and if they were for children of a certain age.

Joey and his mom decided to sit inside to eat their ice cream cones. They were so good. Joey's mom asked him if he had finished "reading" his book that he had gotten at the library. If so, they would take it back on Saturday when they went to story time. She was very interested in this lady called Grandma Lu. Why did she think that she was important to her somehow. Anyway it was time to go home.

When they got home she called the library and asked about the story time and what Grandma Lu would be talking about or would she be reading a book to children? She had never been to a story time at a library before.

The librarian told her that she would be talking about her childhood and Saturday's stories would be about family reunions and all that they entailed when she was a child. The librarian assured her that Grandma Lu's stories were fun for all ages.

Reunions And Letters About Rondo

 Betty watched her little boy with his trucks and cars playing a game with them that only he understood. She was holding a book that she had checked out at the library. She had a feeling that she was about to read about folks and their memories of other people and a place that she would never understand. As she read about the Reunion she had a far away memory of a reunion she had gone to when she was just a little girl. She wasn't sure, but it was not a reunion of classmates like her high school reunion was. Her school reunion was kind of fun. She had kept in contact with a lot of her classmates, so she enjoyed getting together with them.  The other reunion if she remembered correctly may have been a family reunion. "Oh well, that was a long time ago. I don't remember much about it except a lot of hugging and a lot of food. I wonder whatever happened to those people. I have lost touch with them after all these years. My folks died and I moved a long ways away."

As Betty read through the pages there were letters written to the author about memories of their childhood, weather, church plays, and most memorable it seemed was the trip to the cemetery to remember their family members and friends. And flowers mostly roses. So many roses.

She smiled when she saw some of the pictures that were taken in the 1800's. "Hmm, I have some of those old pictures. Mom saved everything. The thing is a lot of them have no names or dates on the back of them. I have no clue who they were or where they lived. It's nice these people have preserved these pictures with names and dates."

Betty smiled as she scanned through some of the letters and articles about folks that had lived and some had died in this little town called Rondo. Some of their names were unfamiliar. Choices of names change over the years, and some names were family names handed down from generation to generation. Her mother had told her that her name was one that had been one of those. Her mother said that the name Betty had belonged to a cousin's granddaughter. She had been lots of fun and well liked by a lot of people. It was fun to think about this other Betty that she would never meet. Then she remembered that lady at the library; Grandma Lu. I wonder if she ever knew any of my family or my mother's family. Probably not though. My family was originally from Iowa. Oh well, I will ask about searching for my family someday. It would be fun to do when Joey gets older and is gone during the day to school. I like these people in Rondo. It seemed like everyone knew everyone for generations!

Oh this tells about a terrible snowstorm in the 50's. I remember hearing stories about those terrible snowstorms from my mother too. I guess even though folks live in different states and many many years apart in age they seem to go through some of the same things. Interesting book. I wish I knew some of these people. Some of them sound they were a hoot! 

Okay, Joey. Would you like to help me make supper? I'm getting hungry, how about you?"

Betty Steps Into The Past With A Book Called Rondo Items

 Joey's mom walked over to where her son and the lady people called Grandma Lu were talking. "Hello! My name is Betty. I am this young man's mom. The librarian told me that folks call you Grandma Lu. What is your real name?" Grandma Lu smiled and said, "My real name is LuAnne. Children and their parents and even strangers started calling me Grandma Lu years ago about the same time my own grandchildren started calling me Grandma Lu. Then my friend, Bonnie, also was called Grandma B told me about an empty building that was going to go to ruin if it wasn't kept up to date. The rent was cheap, but it needed a lot of work and painting etc. It was in a small community not far from here. The community all came together and helped us. B started calling me Grandma Lu and like most nicknames, it caught on and even now most folks call me Grandma Lu."

"Grandma B had a very small granddaughter at that time. Her name was Marlee.  B or Bonnie and I decided to rent the building from the town and I eventually referred to it as Marleewood. We remodeled and added rooms and it became quite the community center. Folks came to listen to my stories, shop, drink coffee, and we even had a room where you could just sit in a comfortable old chair and read or take a nap.

And oh, I forgot to tell you about the parties. Mercy did we have parties. But that was years ago. I don't even know whatever happened to Marleewood nowadays. There was a mayor that had it auctioned off for back taxes. I haven't been back there in years. I have lost touch with a lot of those folks since my husband and I moved.

Betty told Grandma Lu that she was glad to have met her and she and her young son, Joey, left the library only after checking out a book that might give Betty some insight into the area where Marleewood used to be and other communities that was chock full of pictures. Joey might like the pictures too.

When Betty and her son got home she got them both a snack and asked Joey if he would like to look at the book she had checked out at the library. He said that he would rather play with his trucks, but maybe later he would look at the pictures in her book if there were any good ones.

Betty opened up the book called Rondo Items with a feeling that she was about to step into the past as well as the future. As she took a sip of her cold drink she felt a shiver of something that she couldn't identify. It was a feeling of family and friendship. She somehow knew that she should include Joey in this book, but right now she needed to read about the lives of the folks that were connected by what looked like a school, a church, and maybe a woman who kept a diary of daily happenings. 

Betty looked at the clock and checked on her little boy. She had about two hours before she needed to start supper, and Joey was content with his toys.

As Betty started to read about the author of the book and some of the dedications she thought about Grandma Lu. She may have to find this older woman again and perhaps gain a little insight into these people in the book.  "Yes, Grandma Lu. I think you and I just might become friends, if I can find you again. I wonder if you know the author, Ruby Sharon Downs."

She started by reading a big title called A Great Reunion!!