My Birthday Present to my Father, My Recollections on MeMaw

My father is I believe is 77 or 78 years old today. I could be slightly off, I’m sure he will let me know. He lost his mother a few years ago, my grandmother who I called MeMaw. Reports are that I coined the phrase MeMaw because I couldn’t say grandma. Some say I was her favorite because I was her first grandchild. She certainly was a huge favorite of mine.

Again, it’s my father’s birthday and he was a huge mama’s boy. He came to Columbus from West Virginia in the 1950′s to find work building airplanes. MeMaw eventually moved to Belpre Ohio, seriously a few steps from the the Ohio river and directly beside the Memorial Bridge which separates Ohio from Parkersburg, West Virginia. As a child I thought that was pretty cool. I now realize it was probably pretty crappy real estate.

Once again, my father was a mama’s boy. As a child, it seemed like we visited Belpre Ohio at least once a month. I remember holding a matchbox car and pretending I was driving to Belpre on the trips.

The biggest thing I remember about the visits to Belpre were the Holidays. I remember Christmas where too many family members were stuck in a small house, but nobody cared. MeMaw always had a Christmas tree with cheesy plastic ornaments underneath. They didn’t seem cheesy to me at the time, today they continue to be a wonderful part of my childhood.

Of course, there was always food. On occasion, we would make homemade ice cream which always seemed to require that we go purchase ice, which seemed cool to me. There was always food. MeMaw was a great cook. My only gripe is she had this thing about corn bread. To this day, I must admit I still hate corn bread. It’s not corn and it’s not bread.

During my years with the Kroger company I was stationed in Athens, Ohio which is not that far from Belpre. I was able to visit MeMaw on numerous occasions and we almost always ate at Bob Evans. She was always humble and embarrassed that she didn’t cook for me. I would always point out that she had spent a lifetime cooking for me and my father and this was my way of picking up the check.

There was something great and magical about those trips from Columbus to Belpre to see MeMaw. I’m sure my father misses her. I do too. Happy birthday dad.

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Tags: Birthday, Father, MeMaw