Thanks Iowa (Final)

As a young child I lived in Boise, Idaho, my family and i would take an annual trip to my grandmother's house to visit on varius vacations. My grandmother, Inez, lives in a small town in Iowa, was like traveling to another country, specifically Norway, as the Norwegian influence was througout the town. This place had a feel of a small tight knit community where not one person is a stranger and they make you feel at home, even if you have never been there before. I would always rememberhow nice and friendly all of Inez's friends and neighbors would be to me, being a handsome young lad at the age of nine. I was always the center of attentiion which made the house feel very warm and comforting with all the love and embrace that my family and friends would surround me in. the years when we visited on Thanksgiving was always most memorable to me because my grandmother would cook the most succulent ham with the tastiest Linnonberry glaze, which was similar to a traditional cranberry taste. I believed that these fond memories of my grandmother's house at Thanksgiving and the Norwegian influences helped impact the way I was raised to love and cherish family, have polite manners, and be happy with the simpler way of life.

I will always remember driving down my grandmother's street, at last after a day of driving, and seeing nearly every house with wooden Norwegian gnomes peeking out of every window or on their front porch holding a sign, Velkommen. Which was Norwegian for welcome. I would know that i have arrived in her lovely town, which seemed magical to a nine year old kid. After settling, we would head into town, as my grandmother was very excited that we were here. She was a short lady who spends her days alone, so when family comes to visit her her eyes would light up and she burst of energy that lasts for days. As we would get into town i would remember how tiny their Safeway was compared to most others around the county. It was about a quarter the size of a normal one and they would wrap their meats in paper like in earlier years. She would also bring us to local shops on main street of the town. There was kitchen shops, shoe stores, my favorite ice cream parlors, and one particular store that caught my eye was a Norwegian gift store. They sold various metal artworks, cloths of all kinds, and figurines ranging form very tiny to large intricate figures. In the middle of the store was a older man working away st his next project to display on his shelves. As i grew older I learned to appreciate his hard work and the dedication he had toward hi job. His figurines were very detailed and his artwork was very well crafted. I was very intrigued to see a man contently sit in his shop all day making a simple life for himself.

Most of my family also lives in Iowa. My Aunt and Uncle, Marry and Tom live in Waterloo, Iowa as well as their children, Brad, Brian, and Nicole also has children of there own. Brad has a daughter named Eden and Nicole has a daughter named Kirsten who are both aroud five years old. I also have another uncle named Jeff who is my favorite relative of them all. He is fat bellied, six foot tall man, with very little hair, who drives a semi-truck for a living. Yet he is a very funny and loving individual. He was very memorable to me because he would always joke around with Inez and it would always make me laugh. He defiantly had the most impact on me out of all my relatives. The family that surrounded me when I was there is very loving and I would always enjoy my time their.

During my grandmother's famous Thanksgivings the most vivid thing that I could remember was the wonderful smells that would fill her little house. From the rhubarb and apple pie to the potatoe gratin and of course the turkey and ham combined to send your sensors in overdrive. Once we finally said grace and dug into this masterpeice of a homemade meal it was heaven right there in my mouth. The Linngonberry glaze burst with the most wonderful flavor and lay atop a heaping pile of her famous succulent ham. Everything about her Thanksgiving was so magical and perfect. The family would always come closer together to get lost in each others company and forget all out worries for one night to enjoy our mother's, or grandmother's cooking.

The times I spent in Iowa were some of the best times of my life. It helped settle me down to live a simpler life for a week or two. It was very good for me to leave the hectic life-style of a big city to come to a little town that knew nothing of a Justin Beiber or could care less of a terrorist attack. Just the work at hand and to be the nicest person they can be. Iowa also taught me to work hard for my living and that family is the most important thing in life. I enjoyed every minite of every trip that i took. It wasjust a pain to drive all the way their especially through Nebraska. Yikes! Bust most of all the Thanksgiving meals had the biggest impact on me. My grandmother's cooking would always bring the whole family together and bring the best memories of some of the best years of my childhood. Now my second cousin'd Eden and Kirsten can grow up in an environment that was similar to my childhood. And it is now my job to help grow stong loving images that they can cherish for the rest of their lives. Or maybe I'll just leave that to my grandmother's cooking.