My Dad's Mother
My Grandmother drove some of us batty with a couple things she did...
The one thing that stands out in my mind was she always spent two days cleaning the house, even taking the mattresses off the beds to clean the bed slats - before the cleaning lady came. When the cleaning lady did come, Grandmom would spend the entire time she was there talking to her in the kitchen seated at the table drinking coffee and sharing apple cake. They were best buddies :)
Me, my Dad (in the back), and his Dad
- with some fish at Beach Haven, NJ, Summer 1973
My Grandfather always winked at me and said he didn't care who or how the house got cleaned, the money he spent resulted in a spotless house.
Grandmom lived through the Great Depression too... but even 40 years later, when she would go to a restaurant, she would take the packages of salt, pepper, sweetner, ketchup, jellies, and even the sheets of paper towels from the bathroom and sneak them into her purse. I remember my Great-Aunt (My Grandmom's Sister) taking us to the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, CA for lunch, and bear in mind, lunch was expensive even then! I think this was 1972-ish judging by the date of the fish picture with me wearing a San Diego t-shirt.
After lunch in the lobby, my Great-Aunt in a very loud voice after my Grandmom had swiped some towels from the ladies room, "For GODS SAKE Edith!!! If you are so poor, I'll BUY you a roll of paper towels!!!" The whole lobby fell into a hushed embarrassing silence.
Grandmom with my two brothers
- outside her house in Philadelphia, February 1973
But you know... she was like a Momma bear and her Grandsons like bear cubs... she loved us, no matter what awful things we did... unconditionally and totally completely. The worse scolding she ever gave us was a rigorous shaking of a big wooden spoon she used to use while cooking pies and cakes for us, saying "You better behave!!" all the while smiling at us.
Grandmom and Me
- outside her house in Philadelphia, February 1973
Gosh I miss her and yea, she was and is loved very much.
7 comments:
You're so lucky to been able to spend time with your grandparents. Especially your grampa. The only grampa that was alive when I was a child was mom's dad and that set of grandparents lived over in California while we were in NY. Needless to say, we didnt get to see them often at all. I do remember that he liked talking about feeding geese marshmallows though. By the time I was old enough to really understand the relationship, he was really too old to do much of anything but sit there and watch life go by. Gramma, on the otherhand, was still go go go..oh dear, I feel another entry coming on soon. I better dig up the next set of photos.
I've not been on the computer (or in the blogs) much lately. How sweet to pull yours up and see the precious picture of you and your grandmom. Your memory of the cleaning lady reminds me of my mom. I tried to talk her into getting a cleaning lady years ago. She finally admitted that she would have to make sure the house was clean before the cleaning lady would come and it just wouldn't be worth it. And the towels memory! To this date my dad never leaves McDonalds without a pocket full of napkins for them to use at home. Such quirks! Loved your entry and your memories.
An observation... Why is it that Grandmothers used to look like Grandma's should? I look at the picture of Iggy's Grandma and my Grandma (www.punkndeanna.blogspot.com) and they look just like they should. Now they mostly don't. I'm a grandma to 10 grandkids and yet.. well you know.
Nice pics and nice memories, Iggy.
*looks at punkn* You are a great looking grandma, punkn. LOL
Punkn, that's an interesting observation. My grandfather, who is stll with us and nearing a hundred years old, also dressed "nicely" too. I mean for him super casual was the outfit he wore fishing, which still included the button shirt. Today, he still dresses in slacks and dress shirt everyday, and often wears a tie when going out, even to the grocery store.
And you are a good looking grandma Punkn... :) that yellow dress you had on in your last blog entry really makes you shine.
Oh my. I wasn't fishing for comliments lol. But times really have changed a lot.
Such wonderful memories, Iggy. I hope you hold on to them.
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