Dad also showed me the water pump. It seemed to be a bunch of wheels and belts that spun around. It made the sound, “Giddy-giddy-giddy.”
Dad and I climbed back up the stairs. Granny Annie was in the kitchen fixing some cookies and pineapple juice for everyone. I carried a tray of cookies into the front room while Dad carried the pitcher of juice.
When everyone was served, Dad asked, “Granny Annie, tell us what it was like when you were a girl.”
Granny Annie sat down in her chair. She tilted her head back as if to look into her memory. She had a good memory of her life. “I remember going to Primary,” she said. “My sister and I would hitch up the horse to the buggy and then we would ride together to the church.” Granny Annie told such good stories that we could almost see them happening.
Then Granny Annie would ask my dad, “Would you please play some hymns on the piano for me?” Dad went over to the piano and got the hymnal. He opened it to a hymn he knew Granny Annie liked. As he played it, she sang in her swooping and trembling voice, “Israel, Israel, God is calling . . .
It was getting late. My sisters and I needed to get our sleep for school the next day. Granny Annie thanked us over and over again for coming to visit her. She walked with us to the back door, giving a kiss to each of us before we left.
Marvin disappeared into his room and came out again a moment
later. He had an all-day-sucker for each child.
The visit with Granny Annie was about over. She waved goodbye as we piled into the station wagon and then drove away. We didn’t quite realize it then, but we had just spent a Sunday evening with a great lady.
Coming Tomorrow: The “Undestructible” Tank
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