If you had been there with us, you could have sat at the small booth in the hotel cafe right beside me. Everything was neat and clean and Grandma sat on the other side of the table. There is lots of room at the table partly because I am only 5 or 6 and partly because the booth at the hotel is so big.

This is a small town in Saskatchewan and not a lot of restaurants. If you just want to have a 5 cent coke and piece of pie, you can go to the hotel coffee shop. They always have apple pie and coke arrives in a glass with ice or in the glass bottle, you choose.

When you look around you probably spotted the pool table in the room right next door. It’s quiet and peaceful looking out the window to the street. The street isn’t paved but somehow the gravel doesn’t seem to throw up much dust neither.

We all walked downtown because the town is small and Grandma doesn’t drive.

I learned how to behave that morning, you sat there and smiled to yourself quietly as you watched, and maybe you remembered your own Grandma.

Grandma said thanks, and once I thanked her, then I could taste the cola, and reach for my fork. The pie smells nice and cinnamony.

We talked about nothing, but we talked about everything. Grandma looks into your eyes when you talk, and she has an accent from the old country.  I get the feeling that just spending time together is more special than I can understand, but you nod and know why Grandma’s eyes sparkle.

Grandpa is working in the garden but he will have lunch with us, and fresh flowers from his garden just for Grandma. He shaves in the kitchen every morning, and smells clean like aftershave. Grandpa lets me pick some cherry tomatoes and pop them into my mouth before dinner, and he winked.

The lesson I remember is that people count. Say please. Say thank you. Listen more than you talk. Treat others like you want to be treated – that’s the Golden rule.

You ruffle my hair and smile – you got a smart Grandma Dave, make sure you don’t ever forget.

I won’t Grandma, I promise.