Memories of my Grandparents

Today we celebrate in Poland Grandmother's Day, tomorrow - Grandfather's Day.
I'm not that lucky to have any of my Grandparents around anymore.

My Grandpas passed away earlier and my Grandmas slowly followed. 

My Grandparents from my Mum's side lived in a small town and grew the most delicious raspberries in the world. I still remember spending half of my summer holidays hidden in the raspberry shrubs on one of their allotments and searching for ripe fruit. Raspberries are my favourite fruit until now. Grandma also baked the best poppyseed cake ever. We ate it only for Christmas and it felt very special, waiting the whole year to taste it. I'm trying to learn to bake this poppyseed cake for a couple of years now and I'm sure I will never reach my Grandma's abilities on this score. I used to spend the most wonderful moments of my childhood and early youth at their home, always open for me and my Parents. Long walks by the river, spending all days long on their allotments and taking care of my Grandpa's rabbits. I will always keep these memories with me.

My Grandparents from my Dad's side met at a winter sportcamp and kept a long distance relationship at first, writing letters to each other. My Grandma sailed very well and my Grandpa trained boys to lift weights. They both skied as well. They spent one Christmas holidays in the mountains, when my Dad was a little boy. The winter was severe there, and their hut turned out to be enourmously cold. So my Grandpa skied through the blizzard to far away town to look for another accomodation, while my Grandma and my Dad waited for him under the blankets. He returned after many hours, smiling and happy, as he found another hut. They left for the town, my Grandma wearing her rucksack and helping my Dad through the snowdrifts and my Grandpa lifting 3 pairs of skies and 2 rucksacks (without complaining about it!).

 It's difficult for me to accept that all my Grandparents' stories, sometimes unbelievable, sometimes upraising, sometimes sad and terrifying, but always interesting, to which I had been listening for hours, are never going to be told again. Not in the way my Grandparents used to tell them. And some of them, never told, are now lost forever. I'm grateful for each and every one of them and I will keep them with me through life. They carry a meaning and wisdom along, and helped me to find my way in difficult situations I've gone through. Thank you.

Why I chose this photo for this day? It shows my Dad's Mother room and I took this photo a couple of weeks before she passed away. She was very sick. I didn't understand it then, but after she was gone, I suddenly felt the atmosphere of peaceful waiting for something, which is doomed to come and acceptance of it, while looking at the photo.