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FRAGILE AND CAUTION.

'Love will find a way'.

By Dr. Totziette SlaterPublished 3 years ago Updated 3 years ago 10 min read
3
FRAGILE AND CAUTION.
Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

It was always so much fun to play in the attic at granny's house! The stairs were squeaky and the floor had planks that I could look under to find and hide things.

By Peter Herrmann on Unsplash

I remember one summer growing up, me and my cousin Markus went to visit with granny for 2 months. Every week-end she would go into town and buy groceries, while we stayed and hung out in the infamous attic.

By Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

My grandma Hattie named it the infamous attic because she could never figure out why we preferred to stay home every week-end instead of going with her.

She would say things like "Theodore and Markus, granny will buy y'all some extra licorice if you come to town with me or, I sure could use 2 handsome young men with muscles to tote my packages."

Well, we knew granny was just pranking because she would always make us go outside to eat the licorice because she really didn't like the smell of it - and as far as handsome goes, we both was going through puberty and acne. Muscles, ha!, she really meant miniature meatballs!

Nice try grandma!

By Repent of Your Sins & Seek Lord Jesus on Unsplash

Well, granny would leave to go grocery shopping. Markus and I would go up to the attic and hang out for hours looking at old comics and going through boxes and floor boards hoping to find money. However, if we found money we knew better than to keep it because we was convinced that granny knew about everything in the treasure place, that she called "The Infamous Attic."

You see, granny went to church meetings and we were sure the Lord talked to her when she was down on her knees praying. I was convinced of that because one day granny found some marbles in my pocket when she was patching my jeans. She said "Theodore!, you've been in that box on the 3rd shelf next to the window up yonder, right"?

By Andrew Coop on Unsplash

Well, I looked at her and decided not to lie because she had one eye on my face and the other on my throat - that's how it seemed anyhow. So, I just decided to bellow out, "Yes mam"!

Then, she said while looking over her glasses, "Well, y'all help ya self to anything up there but don't mess with my knitting, ya here"? "Yes mam," I said. Then, I walked out the room thinking to myself, "Grandma, what would we do with yarn besides lasso rats"!

You see, periodically we would see 1 running behind newspaper stacks.

By Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

So, from that moment on Markus and I knew that she had everything in chronological dusty order. I even realized while being up there how I became to be such a hoarder. There were sections up in the attic. It was like a whole other house that was divided - up those squeaky stairs.

In one part granny had rub boards from the early 1900's. She had busted well buckets, a 5 cent shoe shine sign, straightening combs with rusty teeth, a corset and stove irons, old hymn books and her granddaddy's old walker.

She had recipes in shoe boxes that made the hens so nervous, they hid from her because 1 recipe needed 12 eggs at a time. The list goes on and on - but how she remembered where those devilish marbles were had to be an old wives tale secret!

The joyous summer days that Markus and I spent in Granny Hattie's attic made me vow to myself that one day I would have a secret stairwell behind a hidden bookshelf in my office. I would sit in there and tell my children all about my attic adventures as a kid. Yes indeed, once I grew up and bought a house of my own.

By Stefan Steinbauer on Unsplash

Well, speaking of secret spaces, there was old tall shelving up in the attic that had a croaker sack panel over it. Markus and I found that when were playing hide and go seek. That was the place that granny kept her snuff to keep us and the church mothers from knowing her habits.

One afternoon we got bold enough to think about trying to chew her tobacco but we knew she counted creases when she folded down her bags - whether flour, grits, meal, or sugar - there were always 3 creases.

Who does that?

So, we were too afraid we would forget to fold her snuff bag the right amount of times when hiding it back in her secret place.

I knew about the creases for a fact because my Auntie Marcala told Markus and I the story how when she was 12 she sneaked into granny's snuff trying to be grown. She recalled it being hid in a paper sack inside an old canister.

Hmmm, I wonder why Auntie didn't mention a croaker sack panel. Maybe granny nailed it to the shelving to keep it hid after Auntie found the snuff.

By Jen Theodore on Unsplash

So, Auntie heard granny coming into the house because that squeaky screened door would always squeal. She hurried and creased the bag one time instead of 3. She jumped off the chair, and walked placidly downstairs. She went passed granny with a calm face while trying not to panic - then out the back door to spit and to rinse her mouth with the water hose.

Auntie thought she was safe because it was a few days before granny found out. You see, the chair was still up to the shelf in the attic where Auntie had climbed to get the snuff. It was later that evening when granny went up in the attic to enjoy a moment of snuffing.

That next morning granny was outside early while Auntie was watering the grass. Granny walked up and asked her had she been plundering around on the top shelving in the attic. Auntie opened her mouth to respond and no words came out. Granny yelped, "child tell the truth"!

By Steve DiMatteo on Unsplash

She peered over her specks at her. Auntie was so afraid, she peed her pants and granny knew she was guilty without Auntie Marcala saying a word. Granny reached down and picked up that same water hose and said, "Gal, if you ever sneak in granny snuff again, I'll tie you up with this hose until the sun goes down."

If it was me, I would have passed out on the grass! Well, I guess that's what Auntie gets for trying to be grown.

I later asked her, "Auntie, were you shocked that granny knew you sneaked into her snuff"? She said, "Child, listen!, yo grandma could sniff our musk before we smelled it and she use to walk the house like the police when we were younger." She paused for a moment, then she shook her head from side to side, grunted, and said, "I swear yo granny had hidden cameras planted in that ole house - and they weren't even invented then."

By Tobias Tullius on Unsplash

I then ask Auntie, "So, why did you risk it"? She said, "Well, I wanted to tell the other girls at school that I did something grown up and that was all I could come up with at the time. "Then, Auntie said, "She learned 2 things that day.

1. "Water hoses had multiple uses"

2. "Always count granny's creases"

I knew at the moment when Aunt Marcala was telling us her story, there was a lot of infamous spots in that ole' attic.

Through the years, Markus and I had many adventures at granny's house but none as mysterious as the year when a stranger walked onto granny's ole' porch.

As I recall -

One week-end while granny was gone to buy groceries, someone knocked on the door - but when I opened it no one was there. Whoever it was had left this Brown Paper Box on the top steps. It wasn't a thief because my red bike was still sitting on the porch, diagonally slanted from the swing.

By James Garcia on Unsplash

The suspicious looking box had granny's name on it and the words "Fragile and Caution". Hmmm, fragile?, was it glass? - caution? did granny have enemies.? Was a grenade inside? All sorts of questions went through our mind on the porch that day - but we dare not open it even though Markus said "hey, let's toss a coin to see who would"!

Well, before the coin could hit the porch we had changed our mind because there was this big old switch tree right in front of the house, that we could almost hear it saying,  "Don't"!

Suddenly, we heard the gears of the truck churning from way down the road. You see, granny loved the sound of a powerful engine. She chopped wood in her younger life and she always said a car's engine was too soft.

By Gene Gallin on Unsplash

Go figure!

We stood on the bottom step in front of the brown paper box to greet granny like we always did - to carry in anything that was too heavy. Granny got out the truck and yelped, "No thank ya boys, granny ain't weak"! Then, Markus and I nudged each other to see who would pick up the Brown Paper box and hand it to her but we both were too scared - so we just moved aside and pointed to the box instead.

Granny glanced at us and then looked at the brown paper box. She put down the bags and bent over to pick up the box. She stood up and peered at us straight in our eyes simultaneously. We stood nervous like soldiers almost wanting to salute her. She went in the house without saying a word. The screened door clutched closed behind her. We both picked up bags and walked to the screened door and peeked inside to see what she was getting ready to do next.

The sound of her bedroom door creaked close. Markus and I eased into the house and hurriedly put the groceries away. We dare not leave them out for granny to say, "boys did y'all think these groceries was gonna grow legs and put themselves away"?

We looked towards granny's room, then at each other. I could tell as I looked at Markus he was scared stiff -but we were curious to know what was going on inside of that bedroom. If we only had a stethoscope to listen at the door - our problem would be solved.

By Markus Frieauff on Unsplash

So, Markus and I tip toed to the hall and stopped. We could hear Granny Hattie plundering and weeping. "Granny"?, I said in a shaking loud voice, but she never said a word. Markus and I walked up to the door and knocked. "Hey granny, is everything alright"?, I said - but she never said a word.

We walked away from the door and down the hall. We went up the creaky stairs to the attic. Markus and I sat on the floor but this time it was different because we could hear granny crying down below. The planks where we were sitting was spaced out enough that we could hear and put an eyeball to the tiny opening to see her. She was talking through her tears.

She was repeatedly saying "I never knew George. I never knew! I never knew you had written love letters to me when you was away in the army." She blew her nose and talked more. "You said you would always find a way to let me know how much you loved me." She continued, "The words then sounded like a school boy's promise as we laughed and talked - and you held me while standing by the water on that hot summer day."

By Nate Johnston on Unsplash

You see, George was her love for over 50 years and somehow that Brown Paper Box had found itself back to our Grandma a year after Grandpa George Jameison passed away.

Well, we never knew who placed that collection of memories on granny's steps that day, maybe an angel - and perhaps the words -

"Fragile and Caution" was on the box to signify that granny should be careful of the contents inside, because her heart would become weakened by grandpa's sentimental love words.

Yet, one thing was understood as I and Markus listened to our granny weeping tears of joy behind her bedroom door -

An infamous Brown Paper Box came and made our granny very happy that day!

Love will find a way!

By Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Family
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About the Creator

Dr. Totziette Slater

Just a country girl living in an enormous world that's filled with a smorgasbord of various ideas, expressions and content...Remain prayerful and be happy - it's your lifeline to paved successes!

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