Walk Two Moons

Walk Two Moons

by

Sharon Creech

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Walk Two Moons makes teaching easy.
Gramps is Sal’s grandfather, Dad’s father, and Gram’s husband. Sal describes her grandparents as good, kind people who nevertheless attract trouble wherever they go. Over the course of their lifetime, they’ve been arrested for stealing a senator’s tires and pulled over for driving on the shoulder of the road. This is one of the reasons why, Sal believes, Dad wants her to go on the road trip to Lewiston with them—Sal will be able to keep them in line. As Sal and her grandparents drive west, Sal hears about their early relationship. Gramps was smitten with Gram the moment he saw her when they were teenagers—and she agreed to marry him when he admitted that he sometimes sang to his beagle. When they were married, the couple received their “marriage bed.” This bed belonged to Gramps’s parents first, and Gramps was born in it in addition to all of his and Gram’s children. Every night when he and Gram get into bed in motels, Gramps pats the bed and says, “this ain’t our marriage bed, but it’ll do.” Sal sees their marriage bed as a symbol of her grandparents’ love and devotion to each other. During their trip, Gramps often pulls off the road to see tourist attractions, nap, or cool off in nearby bodies of water. This habit annoys Sal—and it even proves dangerous when, in the Missouri River, a poisonous water moccasin bites Gram’s leg. But Gramps continues to pull over at every place of interest—and Sal eventually realizes that Gramps is purposefully stopping everywhere that Momma did when Momma headed west on the bus. Gramps’s devotion to Gram, and his trust in Sal, becomes apparent when Gram falls ill, and in Coeur D’Alene, doctors discover that she had a stroke. Gramps stays in the hospital with Gram and gives Sal the car keys, knowing that Sal—whom he taught to drive on the family farm several years ago—is going to complete the drive to Lewiston. After Sal and Gramps return to Bybanks, Gramps moves in with Sal and Dad. He continues to teach Sal to drive. They regularly play the “moccasin game” (a reference to the titular saying “Don’t judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins”), in which they think about other people’s perspectives.

Gramps Quotes in Walk Two Moons

The Walk Two Moons quotes below are all either spoken by Gramps or refer to Gramps. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Judgment, Perspective, and Storytelling Theme Icon
).
Chapter 15 Quotes

My long hair floated all around me. My mother’s hair had been long and black, like mine, but a week before she left, she cut it. My father said to me, “Don’t cut yours, Sal. Please don’t cut yours.”

My mother said, “I knew you wouldn’t like it if I cut mine.”

My father said, “I didn’t say anything about yours.”

“But I know what you’re thinking,” she said.

“I loved your hair, Sugar,” he said.

I saved her hair. I swept it up from the kitchen floor and wrapped it in a plastic bag and hid it beneath the floorboards of my room. It was still there, along with the postcards she sent.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle (speaker), Dad (speaker), Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: Hair
Page Number: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

The morning after my father learned that my mother was not coming back, he left for Lewiston, Idaho. Gram and Gramps came to stay with me. I had pleaded to go along, but my father said he didn’t think I should have to go through that. That day I climbed up into the maple and watched the singing tree, waiting for it to sing. I stayed there all day and on into the early evening. It did not sing.

At dusk, Gramps placed three sleeping bags at the foot of the tree, and he, Gram, and I slept there all night. The tree did not sing.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: The Singing Tree
Page Number: 93
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“So you didn’t leave Gramps just because of the cussing?”

“Salamanca, I don’t even remember why I did that. Sometimes you know in your heart you love someone, but you have to go away before your head can figure it out.”

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Gram (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gramps
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

I knew Phoebe was convinced that her mother was kidnapped because it was impossible for Phoebe to imagine that her mother could leave for any other reason. I wanted to call Phoebe and say that maybe her mother had gone looking for something, maybe her mother was unhappy, maybe there was nothing Phoebe could do about it.

When I told this part to Gram and Gramps, Gramps said, “You mean it had nothing to do with Peeby?” They looked at each other. They didn’t say anything, but there was something in that look that suggested I had just said something important. For the first time, it occurred to me that maybe my mother’s leaving had nothing whatsoever to do with me. It was separate and apart. We couldn’t own our mothers.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Gramps (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Gram, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Margaret Cadaver, Mrs. Winterbottom, The Lunatic/Mike Bickle
Page Number: 164
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 44 Quotes

Lately, I’ve been wondering if there might be something hidden behind the fireplace, because just as the fireplace was behind the plaster wall and my mother’s story was behind Phoebe’s, I think there was a third story behind Phoebe’s and my mother’s, and that was about Gram and Gramps.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Related Symbols: The Fireplace
Page Number: 254
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Walk Two Moons LitChart as a printable PDF.
Walk Two Moons PDF

Gramps Quotes in Walk Two Moons

The Walk Two Moons quotes below are all either spoken by Gramps or refer to Gramps. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Judgment, Perspective, and Storytelling Theme Icon
).
Chapter 15 Quotes

My long hair floated all around me. My mother’s hair had been long and black, like mine, but a week before she left, she cut it. My father said to me, “Don’t cut yours, Sal. Please don’t cut yours.”

My mother said, “I knew you wouldn’t like it if I cut mine.”

My father said, “I didn’t say anything about yours.”

“But I know what you’re thinking,” she said.

“I loved your hair, Sugar,” he said.

I saved her hair. I swept it up from the kitchen floor and wrapped it in a plastic bag and hid it beneath the floorboards of my room. It was still there, along with the postcards she sent.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle (speaker), Dad (speaker), Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: Hair
Page Number: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

The morning after my father learned that my mother was not coming back, he left for Lewiston, Idaho. Gram and Gramps came to stay with me. I had pleaded to go along, but my father said he didn’t think I should have to go through that. That day I climbed up into the maple and watched the singing tree, waiting for it to sing. I stayed there all day and on into the early evening. It did not sing.

At dusk, Gramps placed three sleeping bags at the foot of the tree, and he, Gram, and I slept there all night. The tree did not sing.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: The Singing Tree
Page Number: 93
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“So you didn’t leave Gramps just because of the cussing?”

“Salamanca, I don’t even remember why I did that. Sometimes you know in your heart you love someone, but you have to go away before your head can figure it out.”

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Gram (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gramps
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

I knew Phoebe was convinced that her mother was kidnapped because it was impossible for Phoebe to imagine that her mother could leave for any other reason. I wanted to call Phoebe and say that maybe her mother had gone looking for something, maybe her mother was unhappy, maybe there was nothing Phoebe could do about it.

When I told this part to Gram and Gramps, Gramps said, “You mean it had nothing to do with Peeby?” They looked at each other. They didn’t say anything, but there was something in that look that suggested I had just said something important. For the first time, it occurred to me that maybe my mother’s leaving had nothing whatsoever to do with me. It was separate and apart. We couldn’t own our mothers.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Gramps (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Gram, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Margaret Cadaver, Mrs. Winterbottom, The Lunatic/Mike Bickle
Page Number: 164
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 44 Quotes

Lately, I’ve been wondering if there might be something hidden behind the fireplace, because just as the fireplace was behind the plaster wall and my mother’s story was behind Phoebe’s, I think there was a third story behind Phoebe’s and my mother’s, and that was about Gram and Gramps.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Related Symbols: The Fireplace
Page Number: 254
Explanation and Analysis: