About 1945
Grandpa and Grandma Hamilton moved from Savannah, Georgia to Utah. They purchased a home on about 200 North and 300 West in Provo. (It’s still there).
I couldn’t have been more than 4 years old (1947), but this recall is so clear in my mind. I remember how the light streamed in from the south windows and lit up the living room and kitchen. Grandpa was sitting in a brown wooden rocking chair in the living room. I can see him clearly in a white dress shirt and brown wool pants and vest and his shoes were shiny. He wore a large garnet ring on his right hand. As I sat on his lap, he taught me a song:
“And The Green Grass Grows All Around”
And the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.
There’s a hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.
There’s a stump in the hole and hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around all, around, and the green grass grows all around.
There’s a trunk on the stump, and a stump in the hole and a hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.
There are limbs on the trunk, a trunk on the stump, and a stump in the hole and a hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.
There’s a branch on the limbs and limbs on the trunk, a trunk on the stump, and a stump in the hole and a hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.
There are leaves on the branch and a branch on the limbs and limbs on the trunk, a trunk on the stump, and a stump in the hole and a hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.
Now that was no easy task but I do remember the experience well.
Grandpa would always have a nickel or dime and it would seem to come out of the oddest places, like his ear, from in his hair, or from the toe of his shoe. I remember how his clothes smelled, and his face smelled spicy (could have been “Old Spice”).
Rice and Eggs
On this day it was the first time I remember eating “Rice & Eggs” (A soft fried egg over hot rice with lots of butter). “Rice and Eggs” has become a mainstay meal and a tradition that has passed to my grandchildren and greats. That would make this a third great grandma breakfast or meal. It’s a favorite!
Another thing I remember about Grandma and Grandpa living in this house was walking down to the corner of 300 North and 300 West with Grandma Ella and looking a block east, to what is now Freedom Boulevard, and watching the train go by. The tracks remained there for a long time until the tracks were no longer needed.
Contributed by Kathryn Distefano Griffiths – Relationship: Granddaughter of Charles and Ella Hodges Hamilton by way of their daughter Evelyn Hamilton Distefano.