My Memories of Grandma and Grandpa Ursaki

As Mike stated in the previous post, we were lucky if we saw Grandma and Grandpa a couple of times a year, since we never lived in Regina.  I remember always feeling very excited when I knew we'd be making a trip to see them and the other Saskatchewan relatives.  Grandpa always was ready for us with cherry and peppermint chicklets gum, candy bars and small bottles of soda pop.  Grandma usually had a batch of  warm, homemade donuts ready for us.  We all got our own little bowl of sugar to dip them in . . . oh, how I loved those doughnuts!  I want one right now!  Grandma said that she preferred to let everyone dip their own doughnuts because not so much sugar got on her kitchen floor . . . she disliked the feeling of sugar crunching under her shoes when she walked across the kitchen floor.

Grandma had a drawer ( if memory serves) where she had some things for us to play with . . . some wooden building blocks, rubber canning rings, etc.  We preferred to entertain ourselves, however, by waiting with a glass of water, under the stairs, and then pouring water (through a knothole in the hardwood floor) on whoever was sitting on the toilet down below!  What a set-up.  That toilet was directly beneath that knothole.  Anyone else remember doing this?  I know it really annoyed Grandma and she tried to plug up the hole with rags, but we'd just unplug it and do it again!  She called us "angels" and "sugarplums" anyway.  The only time I remember Grandma really getting upset at me was when Lois and I pulled out  a bunch of her clean linens (sheets,etc. that she had no doubt ironed) and built a fort.  She was pretty upset because she knew she'd have to rewash and re-iron all of those sheets!  I blame Lois for this unfortunate incident!

The only time I remember catching heck from Grandpa, I was with Lois again (anyone see an emerging pattern here?)  We decided it would be fun to crawl up into the big crabapple tree in the back yard.  When Grandpa saw us he yelled for us to get out of the tree before we broke the branches.  Lois got cheeky with him and said something like "You wouldn't care if we fell out of the tree and broke our necks, would you!?"  Oy.  The truth is, I LOVED playing with Lois and we had a ton of fun together.  

Another of my favourite memories of Grandma and Grandpa's house was the old bathtub downstairs.  I remember my mom filling the tub from two black hoses . . . one of them came straight from the water heater. When we were really little, she'd just throw all three of us . . . Mike, Elaine and me, into the tub at once.  We had a jolly old time soaping our butts and sliding down the sloped back of the tub.  I swear that more water flew out of that tub than stayed in.  Does anyone know what happened to that tub?  

That house at 506 Victoria Ave. always smelled of fresh baking, roast chicken, pipe tobacco and Dove soap.  I loved that smell.  I still think of Grandma and Grandpa when I smell Dove soap.

I seldom saw Grandma sitting down . . . it seemed like she was always busying around cleaning and cooking but I some memory of her watching her "stories" on TV.  Whenever we visited I always got to sleep with Grandma.  I can remember her in her long flannel nightgown with her hair in a long braid down her back and her teeth in a cup beside the bed.    She was always up and dressed in a dress , nylon stockings and an apron before I ever opened my eyes in the morning and I often woke up to the smell of bacon frying and coffee brewing.  Even though I'm not a coffee drinker I still love the smell of brewing coffee to this day.

I remember that Grandpa would give me 50 cents or a dollar and I would walk down to the corner store to buy candy and ice cream treats.  I don't remember the name of the lady who ran the store but she knew I was Henry and Ottilie's granddaughter and she was always so friendly.  

This summer, Mom and Dad and I drove to Vernon and stayed with Lynne (Ursaki) and Brian for a couple of days, as I've mentioned in a previous post. While there, we watched some of their old family slides and I took photos of some of the slides as they were being projected.  Here are a few of them.  I don't know what particular years any of these were taken.

 I particularly love this photo of Grandpa and Grandma with their grown children.  This was a very attractive group of people.  I wonder what Uncle Eddie would have looked like, had he lived to adulthood?

 I think that the other couple in this photo are Grandpa's brother George and his wife.  Can't remember her name. Perhaps, Millie?

 These photos must be of a wedding anniversary, perhaps their fiftieth?  A rare photo where Grandma and Grandpa are holding hands.

Thanks for indulging my little stroll down memory lane.  I'm going to be going through my old photo albums and scanning some photos of Grandma with some of my kids.  Grandpa died very shortly after the birth of my first son in 1978 so I have no photos of him with any of my kids. 'Til next time.  Sandra