Grandma Foulger

Grandma Foulger was really the only grandparent I knew. I have virtually no memories of my Grandpa Foulger, although I was eight when he died. My memories of Grandma, on the other hand, are vivid and real. I regret that at her passing at 99 and 11 months and one week I was living in Texas and didn't attend the funeral. I believe I was the only member of the family that didn't. I am a different beast now--If that were repeated today I would CREATE a way to get there.

Grandma was a force of nature. She had opinions and wasn't afraid to voice them. Yet at the same time, I thought she was ever so wonderful and delightful to be with. She took me to "Mary Poppins", "Dr. Zhivago", and the "Sound of Music"--all stellar memorable movies. I do remember taking the city bus with her to see "Sound of Music", and unfortunately we didn't make it back to her home before she had an embarrassing accident. I know those things happen! She never drove a car, but taking the bus was always a thrill for me along with the movies at the Orpheum or Egyptian theatres--both classics. Next to the Orpheum was the KarmelKorn shop! Sometimes we had lunch in Z.C.M.I.--big time or at Kress's with the creaky wooden floor.

Her history has been carefully written. I read it every now and again. She straddled some incredible American and world history--from horse-drawn wagons to watching man walk on the moon. I first heard about George Sand from my grandma. Her bookcases were specimen cases from a drugstore and always held such intriguing things for me, and she was a willing lender. She particularly liked biographies. I remember reading about Sammy Davis, Jr. at her house. One of these bookcases made it into my home and now houses my beautiful Icelandic wool. We always did a good bit of TV watching in Ogden too--game shows--Password, Match Game, Let's Make a Deal! and Dick Van Dyke, Red Skelton ("Good night and God bless.") and Lawrence Welk. With a bowl of ice cream. For some reason Grandma didn't like male tap dancers. She said she always pictured a poor hungry wife with little kids at home when she saw men tap dancing!

My grandmother was a prolific knitter. I have many of her needles and even her old tapestry knitting bag. I don't think I learned to knit initially from her, but I'm sure she helped me along the way. I do have several of her afghans and a shawl that she made. I equate TV at her house with the background click of her needles in the same rocking chair. Sometimes she would ask one of us to hold a skein of yarn for her while she made a ball. You could easily watch TV and hold your arms out, so we didn't mind.

The grandmother house of my childhood is one of the best memories I have. The front door was a beautiful heavy wooden thing with a leaded glass window. I loved the feel and sound of it opening because I knew that this was my second home, and something special was always going to happen. I loved sleeping on the back porch in the summer. In the winter, it was unheated, so I preferred another bed if possible. More often than not, though, kids were sent out to the back porch. If we didn't have an electric blanket, we huddled together out of necessity! On the wall of the porch hung a painting of a stern Dutch girl with her hands on her hips. I believe it was one of Uncle Orson's first paintings. All of my cousins and I were afraid of it. I wonder what happened to it, or if anyone took a picture of it.

Grandma's house had a basement with two apartments in it! So so cool! When they were empty we could play house down there. If renters were there that was even more fun because they were always interesting and intriguing. You could stand still and listen to them on the other side! At one point my sister Norma and I got to live down there for a few months when we went with our mother to take care of Grandma when she had a heart attack. We had our own kitchen and got to keep breakfast foods down there. I was in 8th grade. I remember Norma pierced her own ears down in that basement and caused quite a bit of excitement with our mother and grandmother upstairs!

Grandma's house was the gathering place. Most of the cousin time I got in my childhood was when we all joined together there. We had picnics on the lawn, played checkers from the big toy drawer, and loved to sit around and catch the grown-up gossip. But our favorite thing to do was to jump over the bushes off of the front porch. We thought we were flying and could do it for hours. I remember playing Mother May I? and Red Light/Green Light with Greg, Reven, Jeff and Brad who were my California cousins that I only saw about once a year. We played on the grass into the night--our parents and Grandma and Aunt Norma rocked and laughed in the metal rockers on the porch. If we were lucky, someone would plan a trip to Lagoon--a real bargain in Uncle John's eyes compared to Disneyland!

The dining room table in the formal dining room was a focal point of the house. So many of the photos that survived over the years are of this table with all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered around. If it was Christmas a tin tree with red candles was the centerpiece. I remember carrot pudding and snowballs--balls of ice cream perfectly scooped out, rolled in white coconut and then frozen again. My mother's special homemade candy always took center stage as well. After the meal we would clear the dishes and play cards or Spoons or Bingo. Grandma always sat at the head. I remember she used to twist her napkin with her fingers. More often than not I had to sit at the kids' table--a card table set up near the front door. We stuck olives on every finger and giggled like mad. No wonder we were secluded at a separate table! Then the kitchen became a mad flurry as we all grabbed a dish towel to dry dishes.

Just down the block from Grandma's was Coop's--a mom/pop grocery store. We could buy popsicles there or penny candy, of if we had enough coins to jingle we could buy something off the TwirlTown toy rack--jacks or a hoppy taw or a cheap doll. For a country kid who lived in the boondocks, coming to Ogden was high high living! My memories of it are so warm and wonderful. They represent everything good and secure about my entire childhood.

On Sunday we always attended the 13th Ward just a short block away. My grandfather had been bishop there for 20 plus years. It was a unique building full of character with an unusual amount of stairs and tiered bench sections that faced each other in the chapel. Across the front of the chapel was a huge painting of Joseph Smith's first vision. When the building was sold many years later to a non-LDS church group, everyone thought surely they would paint over that mural, but apparently the new group liked it! Any heavenly visitation is a good visitation, right? Grandma always came with us right up until the end. Most of her adult life had been spent there, and everyone there was a friend.

My grandmother was a very devout member of the Church. She attended the temple in Salt Lake and was present at weddings held there. She was also a loyal coffee drinker. Her bishop said, "Rae, I can't imagine you letting your coffee come between you and the Lord." And she replied, "Bishop I can't imagine the Lord allowing a cup of coffee to come between us!" In addition to her coffee she seemed to rely heavily on orange marmalade and toast. That served her well apparently because she lived longer than any of her children and ALL of her friends! I don't remember her cooking. I think she retired from that around 75 or 80. Aunt Norma arrived in the summer and holidays to do the cooking, I guess.

I will never ever ever forget the time I spent in this house with this woman. I loved her. I knew she loved me. I am so blessed to call her my grandmother. I know she will be one of the first I run to see when I pass to the other side. I know she sometimes hovers near when I knit. I'm so okay with that. The memories of these great souls that I call family are still very present with me. I miss them all so.