Beans and Memories

Yesterday I cooked ham & beans. I haven't made them in years because I am the only one in the family who really likes them. Sorting them and getting them ready to cook brought back memories of my grandpa. When Granny B. cooked beans, it was Grandpa's job to sort out the bad ones before they were cooked. And when I was there I got to help. I remember sitting at their kitchen table with the beans and two containers - one for the good ones, and one for the bad. Gramps and I would discuss at length the merits of each bean, and whether each was good enough to go in the pot. Some were shriveled, some were brown or had bad spots on them. Only the most perfect beans could go in the pot. It was quite a process. Who but a grandpa would spend that much time with a child, talking about beans??