To Be a Wonderful Grandma Remember the Love You Had for Yours
You can never replace her but you can be like her.
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The only person I ever talk about as being perfect was my Maternal grandmother. Even when she was semi scolding me she was nice.
From the time I can remember she was a constant presence in my life. When my dad built our house in 1957 he made an apartment for my grandma with an entrance off the garage.
It was the ideal setup for all of us.
I never heard my grandma say it but, of course, I assumed she absolutely loved watching us kids all the time, baking, cooking, cleaning, and doing the laundry!
She hung all the clothes outside to dry.
Grandma ran to the grocery store a lot so I always asked to go with her. I remembered her car was a 1948 Dodge something. It looked like a gangster car. I can still smell the upholstery on the back seats. An old musty smell.
Grandma had several “lady friends” that she visited and would allow me to go with her. I had to sit in a chair and not speak or disrupt anything. These ladies were all so kind to me, fawned over me, and gave me snacks. I thought they were all about 100 years old.
Now, I realize, they were probably my age or even younger!
I could always go to grandma for advice and she was very wise.
To my detriment, I didn't listen half the time.
One thing she would never do was go against anything my parents said. Even if she disagreed with them she stayed out of it. I think she was afraid of my dad, with good reason. He could be a real bear. When she crossed the 4 feet of garage floor to our kitchen door she would knock if my dad was home!
She was a staple at all our birthdays and holidays. One of us had to go get her from her apartment on Christmas morning to open gifts. We would say, “did anyone invite grandma?” as if she didn’t already live with us!
For all occasions, she gave us cards with money. When I was younger that was…
