Apron Memories

I don't know how many children today know what an apron is, but, because aprons evoke sweet memories from my childhood, I wanted our four-year-old granddaughter Avery to know. When she was around three years old, I rummaged through a box of keepsakes and found a couple of aprons my grandmother made for me when I was a little girl. I showed them to Avery, and told her that her great-great-grandmother made them. Of course, that doesn't mean much to her right now, but one day it will. She loves wearing the aprons, and I captured this picture of her wearing one after her bath one night. She wears them sometimes when we cook, too, and I wouldn't take anything for her enjoying them like I did when I was little. I recently received an e-mail featuring a story about aprons, and I thought it was sweet and want to share it with you today. The History of Aprons The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few. It was easier to wash aprons than dresses, and it also served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, too, and on occasion was even used for cleaning little ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, as she bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in it, too. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables, and after the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the menfolks knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'ole-timey apron' that served so many purposes. I cherish the memory of my grandmother in her apron, bustling around the kitchen ... and I can still picture it hanging on a hook, soft and faded from being washed and ironed so many times ... always ready for the next time she needed it.