Childhood Experience Childhood place: Past and present

When I was very young, my maternal grandmother was the host of every family get-together. My parents and I would drive what seemed like an eternity on the highway to get to her small, slightly shabby corner house. My grandmother was very set in her ways and didn't like to change things, so the house had remained relatively the same in its exterior appearance and interior decor for many years. The outside of the house was a faded blue. The color palate of the interior of the house was mostly oranges, browns, and greens that had been popular when the house was first furnished, but were no longer in style. The sofa I always sat on was slightly saggy in the middle. My grandmother had a much smaller television than we had at home, with fewer channels, and my relatives and I would flip through the stations, desperately trying to find something to watch.

My grandmother was a good cook and as soon as we walked into the house there would be a host of smells that would wash over us. Usually, there was some kind of poultry -- either chicken or turkey -- if we had come during a holiday. My grandmother would also make lots of baked dishes that I never ate anywhere else, like tuna noodle casserole and macaroni and cheese from scratch. She had candy dishes all over the house, with types of candy I never saw anywhere...

All of the conventional family rules didn't apply at grandma's house. I could not finish my vegetables and still have dessert.
Some years, when I was bored, I would play games like Scrabble and Life with my cousins. The board games were always older editions, and the closets that had the games smelled slightly musty. Other times, I would help my grandmother in the kitchen, usually by rinsing off the dishes or setting the table. Her pantry was like a graveyard of spices, boxed mixes, and dry goods. She never seemed to throw anything away. However, most of what her kitchen yielded always tasted good. She made most of her own cakes but she also had a fondness for certain processed treats that were never allowed at home, like white Pepperidge Farm Rolls, Nilla Wafers, and Ritz crackers.

After dinner, the kids would go off and play in the yard. Her yard was slightly overgrown, so we always had fun going on adventures. The shed in the yard hadn't been cleaned out since my grandfather had died, and it was full of old curiosities, like broken lawn equipment and chipped patio furniture. There were also some neighborhood…