She Loved Red

She loved red velvet dresses.

I don't know how she did it, but every year at Christmas time, she would buy all her littlest grandchildren and her great grandchildren a dressy outfit for church.  If at all possible, the outfits had red in them. The boys usually got little outfits that would have a vest and tie.  She especially loved it if she could find red velvet for the girls.

Elissa's dress courtesy of Granny Violet

But if not, blue or green velvet was okay. A teensy touch of red made it better.

Janae in blue velvet

Malia in green velvet - with a touch of red

She also loved home furnishings in red.  She had a couple of her chairs reupholstered in red velvet – one a plain red, the other in this crazy red, white and black pattern.  She had all kinds of red silk flowers about the house, and red damask curtains. I so wish I had a picture to share with you of all her red décor, and all the cute little red outfits she bought the grands over the years. I didn’t own a digital camera while she was alive, and I was notorious for taking pictures on my little Kodak and then never getting them developed.

(I was also notorious for cutting people’s heads off in photos, too, but I digress …)

Granny had very little money so her gifts of church outfits were a sacrifice. It was worth it to her because she loved her family so much and was proud of them and wanted each of them to have a special outfit for church.

I love the memory of Christmas church outfits. I've decided from now on, I’m going to take up her mantle and continue the tradition.

I’ll try to buy red in her honor.

~~~

Did your grandmother have a favorite color or something specific she liked to buy her grandchildren? Leave a comment and share. Inquiring minds want to know.

This post was written in response to Writer's Workshop prompt # 4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: red.  If you'd like to link up, visit Kat Bouska's blog, Mama's Losin' It.