THE GOLD FISH BOWL

The gold fish bowl, or at least that's what I called it, for that's what I remember it as.  I wonder what happened to that bowl?  I wonder where it went? I only have memories of that bowl now.  It sat atop the crystal cabinet that my grandmother got as an engagement present.  It was large and round and made of glass.  But there never were any gold fish in it, which was a curious thing really, for why do I remember it as the gold fish bowl.  I guess I will never know.

I remember that bowl because it reminds me of my great grandmother Eva.  I remember that bowl because inside of it was knitting .... needles and wool, among other things.

That bowl was magic to me, the magic of knitting, the magic of my grandmother.  That was where I first learned to knit.

In that same room stood a piano, a beautiful upright piano, a piano that my grandmother played.  My sisters and I would fight to have 5 minutes on that piano.  Eva had a cake timer, which she would set for 5 mins in which the piano became yours.  You could sit on that piano stool and play to your hearts content for a whole 5 mins, until the bell on the timer rang.  It was at that point that you were usually unceremoniously pushed off the piano stool by one of your sisters whose 5 minutes would start as soon as the timer was set.  Patience is not a virtue of children.

Eva was a wonderful pianist .... she could sit at that piano and play away without a piece of music in front of her and oh the sounds that came out of that piano.  I could listen to her for ages playing.  She'd play a tarantella and I'd dance away, as if in another world.  I loved to sway to her beautiful music.  I loved it so much.

I was the ballerina, dancing on stage for all the world to see.

I was the girl with the tambourine, banging loudly and skipping round in circles.

I was a flower swaying in the breeze.

I was anything I wanted to be when I danced to Eva's magical music.

Granny Cooper we called her ..... she baked the best cakes, she made the best jam, she baked the best pies.  She wore 4711 Eau De Cologne ... not the greatest smell you might say, but if ever I were the smell that today, I know I would think of her.

Eva remains but a memory for me now, but a wonderful memory, and one which I will never forget.

Eva and Thomas Cooper

She really did give the most wonderful hugs.