Tara's prompt for this week's Gallery is Grandparents.
I have thought of lots of different ways to interpret this theme. My own children adore my parents who they see every week, and I'm so happy they are creating strong and happy memories of their time together.
However, I am dedicating my post to my own grandparents. Bill and Joan were my maternal grandparents, Eliza and Jim were my paternal grandparents.
Sadly, three of my grandparents died when I was a child but I still have wonderful memories of them all.
My maternal Grandad used to build us wooden dolls' houses in his shed where he had a spider that he used to call his pet. There was a cherry tree outside the shed and I used to eat my body weight in its fruit.
Our Nan used to make amazing roast potatoes when we went for Sunday dinner at her house. She lived to be 98 and so four of my children had the privilege of knowing and loving her. I'm so grateful that they had the honour of having a wonderful great grandma!
My paternal grandparents lived in Birmingham and so we saw them less often but I remember my nan being a wonderful singer and singing to my grandad at a wedding anniversary party. They used sterilised milk in their tea and had a nutcracker shaped like an animal in their kitchen. They used to go hop picking every year.
I found a picture of my own parent's wedding with both sets of grandparents, long before us grandkids came along. It is such a wonderful thing to delve into your own past and look back at those that came before you. I love the fact that I can see traits of myself and of my children in the faces of my grandparents. I love how funny quirks or mannerisms in my children sometimes seem so familiar.
One day soon I might become a grandparent, my eldest is 23 this year. I can imagine how amazing it must be to see your own genes passed on to a whole new generation. We are forever a living reminder of those who came before us. That is one of the greatest joys of family. It is eternal.
