Visiting my grandmother during the summer months was something we looked forward to year after year. We were not the wealthiest family but what we missed in money we made up for in other blessings. Usually it was the laughter and great times that we shared at my grandma’s house. Some of the best memories somehow always revolved around what we termed the pizza rug. It was just a normal looking red rug, well as normal looking as a shag red rug could look. It somehow went with the décor of the family room. Isn’t it amazing that no matter what color or size a rug are at grandma’s house, they always seem to work.

The red floor rug was the center of the family room (where my favorite black leather recliner chair was, too) – where we would always grab either a board game. Most of the time we either played monopoly or checkers but we would always throw in a card game or two. When we got older we played more cards, sometimes even for a bit of money. Nothing larger than a quarter per hand per person. We would always attempt to do as much cheating with my grandmother as we could. She had her wits about her so don’t believe we took advantage. She wore glasses to read the cards so if you were lucky enough to sit across from her and the light was at the right angle, you could sneak a peek at the reflections off her glasses. She caught on after a bit but she always laughed. That seemed to be the norm. Lots of laughter around the table and for some reason always near the red rug. It was as if the red rug had some sort of happy aura surrounding it that was infectious to everyone.

My grandmother is still alive and laughing these days. The pizza rug is still in its place though we are trying to talk her into throwing it out when we visit. It has seen its better days. Nevertheless, there are still good times that happen when around the pizza rug.

photo credit: gorgeoux