Grandma's Quarters
It was October 1962, and we just experienced in the Northwest whatwould
later be called, "The Columbus Day Storm". A severe ice storm with
pounding winds; damaging homes and trees alike. The area was a mess.
However, it was the calm after the storm. It was on the very day following
this tremendous storm that my story begins. Yes, the wind was silent now.
It had stopped but there was still a chilling coldness in the air. We had
no power at our home, which meant no heat! The house was ice cold with its
bare wood floors.
I remember being in my new cotton night gown hand sewn only days earlier
by my mother. We children all huddled together shivering waiting for Dad
to light a fire. Dad put extra wood on the fire ensuring the house would
warm up quickly. As he walked away from the hearth to go outside all of us
children ran to find our place to stand directly in front of the fire. Oh,
it felt so good. The fire was snapping and crackling. It was a big blazing
fire with flames and sparks were flying. I had no fear though. My only
goal was to get warm as quickly as possible.
I just finished warming my front side stretching out my hands to feel how
hot the fire had become before turning to warm by backside. I had no
warning of what was about to happen to me.
Standing there in comfort and warmth I relaxed for the first time on this
cold morning. Shutting my eyes basking in contentment of the fire, I was
abruptly brought back to reality. In one single second, it took only one
single spark flying from the fireplace to change my life forever. It had
made contact with me catching my nightgown on fire. Flames instantly
ignited from the cotton and the smell of my flesh burning was in the air.
Later at the hospital my mom was told I had third degree burns and
extensive deep tissue damage on the backside of my left leg. After months
of treatment and everyday bandage changes that were the most painful thing
I had ever endured the doctor said, "Melodie must have skin grafts. Her
burn is not healing properly." Due to the severity and depth of the burn
the doctor continued to prepare my mother saying, " I must warn you,
Melodie will walk with a limp at the very best and most likely she will
have a stiff leg after her skin graft heals".
My mother cried. I was hospitalized and my surgery took place. They
grafted skin off my bottom to put on my left leg. Oh, the pain of healing.
Any movement brought tremendous pain, and walking was out of the question.
My pain threshold could not bear it. I lay on the couch day after day
trying not to disturb my leg. It just throbbed. Any movement sent a rush
of pain. I became an expert at laying still.
My grandma would come everyday at the same time and visit me. My mother
had shared the prognosis of the doctor with my grandma, sharing at best I
would walk with a limp. My grandma was very upset about what the doctor
had said. She said he had no right to say that. And she never accepted the
thought of me, her granddaughter walking with a limp or a stiff leg.
Grandma was diligent to her faith she came everyday to encourage me and
try to coax me to move my leg. I loved her so much that I wanted to please
her. I would move my leg with tears in my eyes barely handling the pain.
Day afterday the ritual continued. Then came a day where I had reached a
point that the pain was to great to bear even for Grandma. I didn't want
to try to walk any more - period. It just hurt too much. I just stopped
trying.
My Grandmother lived in town so, she would have to make the drive to our
house in the country and back everyday. She never missed a one. My
Grandmother was poor based on government tallies of incomes.....actually
extremely poor, I later learned. Yet she made the drive which required gas
to come to be with me everyday. Being only 8 years old, I didn't know my
Grandma was poor and had no money.
One day after my long siege of "NO I am not going to try any more",
Grandma came with something. She had all kinds of quarters. I don't mean a
few. I don't mean a handful. I mean a bunch of quarters that filled up her
lap. A quarter in 1962 was a lot of money to a child. penny candy existed
back then. She wore a house dress or what she called a "moo-moo," and
placed all those shiny quarters right there on her lap. Laying on the
couch I could see those gleaming quarters.
I had never seen that amount of money ever. It made me excited. She said,
"If you stand up I will give you a quarter". I wanted a quarter, so,
disregarding the pain I stood up. Grandma smiled so big and placed a shiny
new quarter in the palm of my hand. I quickly sat down the pain throbbing
in my leg. She looked right into my eyes and made an announcement,
"There's more where that came from. Do it again honey, stand up".
I did it again and she repeated the reward another shiny quarter in my
hand. This went on day after day for months with Grandma. I missed my
entire third grade of school. She was faithful and so determined that I
would not have a stiff leg and that I would walk without a limp. One day I
asked my Grandma, "What if you run out of quarters Grandma?" She said,
"Don't worry about Grandma running out of quarters honey. I got all the
quarters in the world for you."
So, we played our game everyday. It had progressed to me walking across
the room now to earn a quarter. Grandma's words saying, "Walk honey, come
on you can do it, come get your quarter."
It had been almost a full year since the fire when I went back to school.
I remember walking in the door and I walked perfectly. No stiff leg. No
limp. The doctor said, "In all my years of treating burns I have never
seen a leg heal so completely."
The extra bonus, a slight minor surface scar instead of the common deeper
skin graft scar. Again, the doctor was amazed. He had me show many of the
other staff doctors in astonishment. He had me come back many times to the
hospital to show my leg and demonstrate its usage.
It wasn't until after my Grandma had died and I was much older that I
realized the gift she had given me. My mother said that she knows it was
my grandmother's determination and faith that healed my leg. My mother
said, "Your grandmother could not bear the thought of you limping or
walking with a stiff leg. Your grandma willed that leg well and God heard
her." I asked my mother, "Where did Grandma get all those quarters?" My
mother replied, "I suppose she went without."
After all these years I was brought to the reality of the tremendous gift
my grandma had given me. A selfless act of love at the expense of
personally going without. Grandma always gave me the quarters joyfully. I
had no idea she was going without what she needed to give me those
quarters to encourage me to walk. I thought she had plenty. She was so
happy to give them to me. My Grandma's daily gifts to me of those shiny
quarters were actually her "sacrifice and faith" all rolled up inside
those silver coins.
Melodie Lynn Tilander copyright 2001
lynnmelodie@hotmail.com
I am a 46 year old professional woman who has recently left the "Corporate
World" and a position, Vice President of Advertisement to pursue my dream
of writing. I now choose to define myself as a christian writer who looks
for and writes about everyday events that glory God. "Grandma's Quarters"
is my personal true story.