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FAMILY - 202-635-1140, Sometimes I type that number into my phone hoping to hear my grandmothers voice come through on the other end. I always wondered what it would be like if my grandmother was here to see me now. Or to even just have a casual conversation with her. I used to spend entire days with her, I'd come over early in the morning and stay all day until 6 when my mother would get off of work.
I never knew my grandmother could walk, my only memory was with her in a wheelchair. I can remember knocking on that burgundy door early in the morning to let her know I was down stairs. It took her a while to get down the steps because she'd sit at the very top and plop down each step one by one to get to her wheelchair which was waiting for her at the bottom. I used to peak through the glass on the door and watch as she had this process down to a science. She'd open the door and greet me with a smile and a kiss, that's how our days began.
My grandmother's TV was always turned to the same station every time I would visit. Fox 5 news would be the first thing that would show up on the screen. We'd watch game shows together and she'd answer the questions the game host would ask, and a majority of the time she was right. I was amazed at how many answers she would get right.
I remember coming home from school and going directly to my grandmothers house and she'd have a few dollars waiting for me so I could run to The Quincy Market. Everyone from the neighborhood referred to it as "Earl's Store" after the owner of the store, Mr. Earl Washington, I would walk into Earl's Store and the cashier would always know what I wanted after school: A blue juice and a bag of chips.
My friends and I loved to be active and participate in sports. My mother never let me play organized football when I was young, so I took the street football games pretty serious. Older people from the neighborhood would call the police almost every day for putting dents in their cars, breaking their mirrors, and messing up the flowers they plant in front of their houses. We didn't care, when we saw police, we ran. We were young kids trying to stay out of trouble. After to many complaints, my grandmother would yell out of the screen door "Ryyyaaaannn!!" I'd reply with a disgruntled tone and yell back "huuuhh!?" She wouldn't hear me so I'd have to walk back on to the porch and talk to her. "Y'all cant keep throwing that ball around these peoples cars." she'd say. At that point, the game would be over, until later at night when all the older people weren't around to complain.
During the summertime, Quincy Place was the place to be as a child. My closest friend, Raynard stayed directly next door to me, we used to make football plays in the middle of the street and use them against other kids who wanted to play against us. My cousins Black, Moon, and Lonte' used to come around and we'd be on my grandmothers porch for hours. We would go play basketball, football, we even tried baseball before, which didn't end so to well. A game I always loved to play was Hot Beans and Butter.
Hot Beans and Butter was game we played where a person hides a belt and a group of people have to find it. The person that hid the belt is responsible for giving hints by telling the people searching whether they are hot or cold. The hotter you are, the closer. The colder you are, the further. Whoever finds the belt will begin to chase all of the people who was searching for the belt and must hit them with the belt until they return to the designated base. Fun right? I loved it.
My grandmother used to sit on the porch with the telephone stretched from the inside of the house to sit next to her in case someone called. Along with the phone, she would have a book of crossword puzzles that she would complete throughout the day. She was one of a kind, I loved spending time with her.
My grandmother used to get rushed to the hospital when she got sick and would stay over night sometimes. I can remember seeing paramedics go into my grandmothers house and transport her to the ambulance. Tears came down my eyes every time I saw this happen, because I never knew if I'd see her again. One time in particular I remember when my grandmother was in the hospital, I bought her a plush mouse for her to sleep with at night for her protection. She named the mouse, Leroy, after my grandfather. Every time I would come into her room she would be laying with the mouse place across her shoulder.
September 27th, 2007 I was a 7th grader, and the day wasn't going so well. I can remember getting into an altercation with one of my classmates and was served a detention. I didn't care much about it, so after school went left school with my friend Devante, his mom gave me a ride home every day. Something was different about this day, I walked out of the courtyard at school and saw my mentor Isaiah waving trying to get my attention. Devante's mom told me that Isaiah would be taking me home today, she never explained why and I never asked. Isaiah was a cool guy that I looked up to so I was excited when I found out he was taking me home. He drove off from the school, I waived to all of my friends and we were on our way to Quincy. Our conversation during the ride was so calm, Isaiah made it seem like nothing was wrong. He turned the corner onto Quincy and the first thing I saw was my grandmothers porch packed with relatives and friends. It was a nice day so when I saw all the people I figured it was a cookout going on. All I can remember after that was Isaiah telling me "there are things that happen in life that we don't always know the answer to.." I blanked out after that because I saw my mother walking to the car, tears flowing hard. She opened the door, took my grey and black Eddie Bauer book bag and told me that my grandmother passed away.
I could not believe what I just heard. I immediately started to cry. I ran up the stairs of my house and threw everything that was in my way. There were white lawn chairs on my porch that I walked past and swatted away as if they were offensive lineman in my way. I just could not believe the words that my mother just said.
After I calmed down a little, I made my way across the street to my grandmothers house where I was immediately embraced by my family members. We were all in shock but we all knew that grandma wasn't in pain anymore.
She was known for her rose bush that was in the front of her yard. While she was sick, the roses were dull, they had no life. I remember a few months after she died the rose bush looked as beautiful as I ever saw it. I believe she was living through it. I love my grandmother because of how comfortable I was as I sat on the porch with her at 137 Quincy Place NE and looking at the rose bush. That number will forever be a part of my life because its all I have left of my grandmother. All I have are the sweet, precious memories that I will cherish forever.
"Jesus calls us: from the tumult of our life's wild, restless sea; day by day his sweet voice soundeth saying, "Christians, follow me." - Helen Perkins
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