The Collie on the Calendar

Many years ago there was a small farm just north of a little Indiana town called Angola. And on that farm lived Grandma and Grandpa Aldrich. Grandma Aldrich was a tall, thin woman with rich brown eyes and a smile that would light up a room.  And she made the very best pies in Steuben County, if not the whole state of Indiana.

My Grandma, Sarah Aldrich.

Grandma and Grandpa Aldrich raised two sons and a daughter, all whom grew up and had children of their own.  I was the first grandchild.

I visited Grandma and Grandpa one summer, and Grandma was busy in the kitchen baking and cooking and doing Grandma things. On the wall of her kitchen hung a large calendar, perhaps from the local insurance company or maybe the feed store. I knew it had to be a free one cause Grandma and Grandpa didn't have much money back then. On the top page of that particular month was a beautiful photo of a Collie.

Timmy and Lassie were my favorite TV stars back then, next to Sky King, the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, and Gumby and Pokey. I was sure that Collie was Lassie.  Then again, every Collie was Lassie.  Did I mention I can still whistle that famous theme song? I digress.  Anyway, Grandma saw me looking at that calendar and she asked, "Do you like that picture?".  "Oh my yes, Grandma, that's Lassie!" I beamed.

Grandma wiped her hands on the dish towel, and walked over to the calendar, pulling it off the nail that held it fast to the wall.  She pulled open the drawer where she kept all those things that have no other place, and took out a pair of shears.  Carefully, Grandma cut that page out of the calendar.

"How'd you like a puzzle, Barbie?" Grandma asked?  "A puzzle?" I asked, with great excitement!  "I never had a puzzle before!" "Well, let's make you one!" she said.

Grandma went into the other room and returned with a thin sheet of cardboard. She took the lid off an old jar and dipped a small measuring cup into soft flour.  She poured the flour into a ceramic bowl and then added a small amount of warm water, just enough to make a paste.  Grandma gently stirred the mixture until it was silky smooth, then took out an old paint brush and first dabbed it into the paste, then brushed it on the cardboard.  Once the cardboard was covered, Grandma carefully laid the picture of the Collie on top of it and gently smoothed out all the wrinkles with her careworn hands.  She then set is aside to dry.

"How'd you like a snack to tide you over 'til the picture dries?" Grandma asked. "Yay!" I squealed, because I knew what that snack would be, my most favoritist snack in the world, Grandma's cherry pie.  Grandma poured me a big glass of cold milk and cut me a delicious slice of cherry pie with little sugar crystals sprinkled on top.  I was in heaven, sitting there eating my favorite pie with my Grandma by my side, watching the picture of the Collie dry.

It wasn't long before Grandma said, "I think it is ready!". She got her shears out of the drawer and began to cut the picture into many different shapes. Soon, the Collie was reduced to a pile of oddly shaped pieces scattered on the kitchen table.  "Done!" Grandma proudly exclaimed.  "Now what?" I asked.  "Now what?" Grandma said, "you put it all back together!". So Grandma helped me to put the puzzle back together, showing me how to figure out which pieces fit together.  Soon, the Collie reappeared.

Grandma and me still at the kitchen table, circa 1982.

I never forgot the love and care my Grandma showed me that day. She had little money but made me the best present any child could have asked for. A handmade puzzle created simply from a page in a calendar, some flour and water, cardboard, and a little imagination. Life doesn't get much better than that.