My Grandma Ackerman's house was a heavily visited, downright fun place where my 11 cousins, four siblings and I always felt we had a young-at-heart friend who looked out for our best interests.
Grandma "A" entertained us by telling colorful stories about her childhood years in Austria - and by yodeling. How many young people could brag to their friends about a grandmother who yodeled to her heart's content at the drop of a hat? Better than boast, we often brought our friends to experience the trilling European mountain songs of an aging yodler firsthand. All were welcome in Grandma's house!
Fortunately, my family lived less than half an hour away from Grandma's house in Houston, Texas, for a good portion of our growing up years. Until Dad's job took us to Austin about three hours away, we experienced her zest for life and love for her grandchildren on a regular, if not weekly, basis.
We considered our Uncle Johnny and Aunt Shirley's kids to be the luckiest of all because their family lived down the street from Grandma. Those five grandkids were in and out of her house each day, especially when the coffee pot began to percolate and cinnamon rolls showed up on the long dining room table.
In the whole realm of things, Grandma probably wasn't a big help to the weight management program my Aunt Shirley put my cousin Cathy on. Out of a sincere concern for Cathy's overall good health, my aunt gave Grandma strict instructions to give Cathy only one pancake a day when heating up the round, almost foot-wide, cast iron griddle during one of the grandkids' daily visits.
No one will ever be able to accuse Grandma of being disobedient. She strictly adhered to Aunt Shirley's food preparation restrictions. Pouring the batter onto the sizzling hot surface, Grandma made Cathy only one pancake, but it was the size of the entire griddle, much to my cousin's delight.
I don't remember how long it took - or how many mega-pancakes later - for Aunt Shirley to figure out Grandma's creativity with the limits put on her. But when the truth was known, this amusing situation became just one more story in Grandma's repertoire, entertaining all who sat in her presence and listened.
I suppose a psychologist might consider my grandmother to be an enabler and a thwarter of my cousin's efforts to shed pounds. I rather like to think that Grandma fed our souls through an amazing reflection of a prodigal God whose love for his children knows no limit and in whose house all are welcome and generously provided for.
Sister Eva-Maria Ackerman is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, which has its American provincialate in Alton.