Ma and Pa Kettle

A few months or so ago I bought the Ma & Pa Kettle Complete Comedy Collection. I didn't just happen to see it on the shelf and decide to try it on for size like I do with a lot of movies, especially foreign films. No, my Grandmother bought these films on VHS when I was a kid and showed them to me. I LOVED them!

Ma has this kind of raspy voice that you would think should grate on your nerves but it just fits her so well. She's the driving force behind the whole household. Pa is really kind of lazy but a sweet old man with strange quirks. They have 15 kids (that's a litter, really it is) and start out in the Egg and I on a run down farm. They kind of move up in the world and have all sorts of adventures through the series of 10 films and are a lot of fun.

Grandma showed them to me when I was a kid because the farm settings reminded her so much of when she was a kid and she wanted to give me a little taste of what it was like to live in an old farm house like the one she grew up in. It had to be via a movie, but it was still a lot of fun getting to see all the little things here and there. She would tell me little stories about certain objects or explain what they were for. And she just really enjoined the movies. It kind of became one of our 'things' that was special to only us. We started out with Ma & Pa and then watched a lot of other old movies that she'd seen when she was younger. It's always kind of bothered me that my cousins didn't seem interested in this and half of what Grandma and Grandpa wanted to show and tell us about. But then again, it's nice not having to share these little moments with Grandma with anyone else.

(I love Ma's facial expressions!)

Grandma is 84 now and not doing so well. She's been taking care of Grandpa who has Alzheimer's and shingles. But she's starting to really wear down. I wish I could just drive over to her house, help her out with a few things around the house, spend the night, and pop in one of the Ma & Pa Kettle movies and watch it with her while Grandpa takes a nap like I used to. But I am half way across the country so it will have to wait until I can visit her again.