Grandma's Parcel

As a young child, I recall the excitement of getting Grandma’s parcel in December. Usually a couple weeks before Christmas, a big box would arrive at the house.

Inside were home-sewn flannelette nightgowns for us two girls (how did she always get the sizes right?) and pairs of pajamas for my two brothers. Everyone in the family (six of us!) got new hand knitted slippers, and then there was a cereal box full of shortbread with cherries on top.

Such an exciting thing to come home to, after school, and dig through. How did she do it? She has LOTS of grandchildren… A specific memory of this package is when I was six, which would put her in her late sixties.

Josephine Forcier, my paternal grandmother, was an industrious woman, and a wonderful seamstress. She often made matching dresses and jumpers for my sister and myself out of a more voluminous woman’s dress that she had taken apart for the treasure trove of fabric it possessed.

We loved getting that infusion of fresh, fluffy soft nightwear each year. We picked the cherries off the top of the cookies – I guess that was a bit of a yet-to-be acquired taste for a six year old – and even though they may have suffered a little in their Canada Post journey across the miles, they were delicious, and so appreciated.

I thought of all that today, when I made these cookies. Thank you Grandma for all your beautiful heartfelt giving.

Here’s Mom and my big Sis and myself, circa 1965, in matching jumpers made by Grandma: