The Book of Me, Prompt 7 - Grandparents (Part 1)

These Book of Me posts are inspired by weekly prompts provided by Julie at Angler's Rest.

My earliest memory is of my grandmother getting a wooden puzzle out of a closet for me. That's actually the only memory I have of her. She died when I was 3 of a brain tumor that was caused from lung cancer. Her name was Esther (Wallace) Baker, and she was the daughter of Hezekiah Truman Wallace and Gladys Baker.

Four short years after my grandmother's death, her husband, my grandfather, died of prostate cancer. His name was Gary Baker and he was the son of George Baker and Elizabeth Beard.

Both of my grandparents were from Lamoille County, Vermont. They purchased a home together in Pinewood Estates in Morrisville, just off the Needle Eye Road.  It was a single story, white ranch. I remember a half wall as you came in the living room door. There was also a basement door in the kitchen, near the kitchen door. I remember my grandfather coming home from work one day in his coveralls (he worked for Bourne's Oil company), walking through the kitchen door and proceeding into the basement. It's funny the things you can remember.

I remember my grandfather gave me a pink bike with a banana seat for my 7th birthday. It was my first 2-wheeler bike, and I had it for several years. I loved that bike, mostly because it was the last gift he ever bought for me. My father sent it to the scrapyard when he sold my childhood home. It broke my heart.

I was very close to my grandparents from what I am told, and I was the apple of their eyes. My grandfather used to carry a siily photo of me in the tub when I was around 2 or 3. My hair was spiked with shampoo, and he would proudly show the photo off saying, "this is my Poopsie." I wish they would have lived longer. I would have loved to have gotten to know them better and be able to write out a long post about them.