Under the Grape Arbor

Under the Grape Arbor

I remember going to my Grandma's house just about every weekend when I was growing up. She had a wonderful grape arbor in her backyard where the family would gather and enjoy the shade, some good Italian food and great fellowship. All my Aunts and Uncles would be there and I never lacked for a playmate with the multitude of cousins that would be running around! We played great games like hide and go seek, statue, Mother may I, red light, ring-a-leave-eo and many more that kids today probably never even heard of! (I couldn't find an actual picture of Grandma's grape arbor but this is pretty close to what it looked like.)

Life was simpler then, families were much closer together and it seems like there was less stress. The grape arbor had a couple of old wooden picnic tables under it and we shared many meals and lots of stories there on a hot summer day. It was cool and peaceful sitting in the shade and enjoying the company of family under the canopy of thick grape leaves.

The grape arbor was about twenty-feet long and ten-feet wide. It was nestled right beside a row of thick hedges that separated us from the neighbor's yard. The hedges were at least twelve-feet high and they provided plenty of additional shade. No matter how hot it would get it was always nice and cool under the grape arbor and there constantly seemed to be a refreshing breeze blowing through.

Of course it was fun to reach up and pick a handful of grapes and enjoy their wonderful taste. I don't know what kind of grapes they were, but they certainly were delicious. Another favorite pastime under the grape arbor was to have grape fights. We would squeeze a grape and the skin would stay in your hand while the inside shot out like a missile and would hit your target with a splat!

Grandma was a very interesting person; she had come to the United States from Italy as a young child. She could not read or write but could speak fluent English as well as Italian. For someone who could not read, she sure could play a mean game of cards or bingo. She would manage ten or twenty bingo cards at a time and was sharp as a tack! Grandma was your typical Italian matriarch, she loved to cook (of course she never used a recipe). I would often watch her in the kitchen and when I asked her how to make something her reply was always, "I put a little pinch of this, a dash of that and a whole lot of love!"

As far back as I can remember Grandma always had beautiful white hair. Most of the time she would wear a black dress with white polka-dots and an apron tied around her waist. She had thick glasses and would always have a smile upon her face. I loved to visit Grandma because she would always be cooking and her house smelled so good! She was constantly telling me I was too skinny and needed to eat. If she could only see me now!

If Grandma wasn't in the kitchen cooking she could be found in the living room sitting in her rocking chair with crochet needles in her hand. She made wonderful sweaters and mittens for everyone. Her favorite television shows were Lawrence Welk and Ed Sullivan. She lived to be 101 years of age, and in all the years that I knew Grandma I honestly can say I never remember seeing her angry about anything!

Families seemed to be much closer together back then. When I was just a little boy I could hop the fence in our back yard and I would be in Grandma's yard and one of my Aunts and Uncles lived right downstairs from Grandma. Across the street from our house lived another Aunt and Uncle. In fact nearly all of my relatives were within easy walking distance from our house! The close proximity of everyone made it convenient to gather under the grape arbor every weekend. It sure was fun growing up with so many cousins to play with! Now I could not even begin to tell you how many cousins I have. Everyone has moved away and have their own big families to keep them busy. We seldom see each other any more and I haven’t even met many of my cousins' children. Anytime we do manage to get together you can be sure that there is always much reminiscing about Grandma's house and enjoying the cool shade of that wonderful grape arbor!