Remembering my Grandmothers

Remembering my Grandmothers

       We often remember the good and not the bad

First my father's mother. She was a kind soul who played cards with me and my brother, and was often a good teacher in learning and playing some of the card games. I and my brothers where not her only Grandchildren. She was also a very good reader of stories and books that I always enjoyed. She lived by herself in her old age when I knew her best; and it always scared me when driving with her in her old car. There were no seat belts, then.  I still always enjoyed all my many visits with her. She died around 1968 of old age.

And then there is my mother's mother. She was as hard on herself as others. Some would call it leadership by example.  I would. And she did wonderful cooking things, too.  I'll always remember her for two sayings: once she mumbled but I still heard....."once a man, twice a child" when she was really mad at her husband.  The second is when my younger brother died in car wreck around age 23. She said something like what a terrible tragedy it was, and said it in a disinterested way that gained my attention.  She did have many other grandchildren, too. And she did rule the roost. Once her husband shared some eggnog with bourbon, and after she quietly read him the riot act (so to speak), he simply left the scene. About five years later both she and her husband died within six months of each other. She went first. The year would have been circa 1978.