Grandma Sha Sha

Mom and I interviewed Grandma Sha Sha (Frances Fern Allen) when she still lived at her home out on Little Skookum Bay. We knew our time with grandma was limited, so we would go over to her house every Sunday and talk with her and play games while Mom (Linda) made dinner. It’s been over three years since our weekly visits with Grandma, and she has since passed away.

We had a little book that we would use to ask her questions about her childhood and early married life. Sometimes she would answer our questions in detail, and other times it was tough to get any answer out of her. I recently found these notes I had written down one day. I was writing as fast as I could to keep up with Grandma, so I wrote the notes in her own words. Because I was writing so quickly, some of the sentences were partial so I've filled in the blanks and combined sentences to make it easier to read. When reading these, it’s as though Grandma is talking.

While living on little Skookum Bay, we would go by boat over to the Allen’s. Sometimes we had to come home in the dark, but Gene knew the bay well enough that it was never a problem.

Snow was really deep in British Columbia, and we went on a few sleigh rides. I never built snowmen or made snow angels. We had a homemade sled to go down the hill. It was made out of wood. One time while straddling, I burned my leg.

In Canada they had ice houses, and if we were near we would buy some ice. We didn’t have a hard time keeping food cold during the winter. During the summer we just didn’t eat anything that had to stay cold.

We grew peas and wild strawberries for strawberry shortcake. One time Mom and Grandma decided to go on a diet and sent away for some lettuce. Grandpa went out and shot a grouse every once in a while. Bacon.

While jumping up and down on the bed, I fell off and bumped my nose on the bedstand. It was a homemade bed with square bedposts. Probably Grandpa Pinkerton or Grandpa Al made.

Mother or Grandma had the most influence on me.

Big Lie: "Can’t remember any. Must have always told little white lies."

There were only eight kids in school, and there was one teacher for all ages. They went to school in a log cabin and for bathrooms they had a girls shed and a boys shed. She remembers one time she got in trouble for using the phrase “I swear on a stack of bibles.” Had to write on the chalkboard as punishment. When she got to Canada they didn’t know what to do with her because she knew so much. They put her in fourth grade.

When asked about her favorite food while growing up, she said she was just grateful for something to eat. She remembers having pancakes and coffee at her Grandma and Grandpa’s for breakfast. When her Grandpa Pinkerton was a captain on a riverboat, her Grandma could feed seven at a time.

I'm glad Grandma answered these questions and shared these memories with us. It's fun to imagine a world I never lived in and a younger grandma that I never knew. Grandma never seemed to think these memories were remarkable or worth sharing, but these little moments that Grandma could barely remember are a glimpse of the events that shaped the woman I knew. I am grateful that she fell in love and created my beginnings. She is a part of me that I am blessed to have known.