Grandparent Love
[ 19 August 2009 ]
Let’s talk grandparents. Often under-appreciated, but still well-loved, they form the backbone of our family. They taught our parents most of what was eventually taught to us, & so it goes on. My friend sent me an email last night which included something about a favourite thing being “the smell of Grandma’s house”, which got me thinking about grandparents.
My favourite grandparent was my father’s mother. She was big & jolly & didn’t like to clean. She would go out & play golf with her friends all day while her husband was at work, & just before he returned, she would spray cleaning products in the air so he thought she had been slaving away since the morning. I used to spend my school holidays with her, & would fly to Dunedin on my own wearing a little badge from the airline which said “Solo Voyager”. We would ransack her drawers for things she didn’t want any more — she called this “finding treasures”. She made the best fudge & had an apricot poodle called Charlie. She had lots of friends & made everyone laugh uproariously.
When I was 10, she sewed me a doll that was the same size I was. The doll had red hair, so we named her Belinda Todd (!!!). I had to fly home with the doll sitting in the seat next to me. At home I have a collection of old cassette tapes which have me reading out stories & talking about my day on one side, & have her responding on the other side. We used to post them back & forth. Our favourite place to visit was Larnach Castle, & when I stayed with her, I would get her to tell me ghost stories every night.
I love her so much & wish she was still here!
Who was your favourite grandparent & why? Did you have nicknames for each other? What silliness did you get up to? Did they spoil you totally rotten? Tell us!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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Gala,
Once again your timing is amazing. On father’s day my Pop (grandpa) passed away and so I drew a portrait of him as a gift to my Dad. Today I am getting to know my other grandfather who died about 4 years before I was born by drawing a portrait of him as a gift for my mom.
Ever since Pop died I have been regretting not spending more time with him, or getting the chance to meet my other grandpa.
Everytime my Grandma would walk in the room Pop would start signing the Miss America song. He threaten every boyfriend i ever had, and he spoke very kindly at my wedding. I will miss him very much
Aw, grandparents are such a nice thing to think about. thanks for this.
One of my favourite memories of my grandmother involves petty theft! See, my grandparents used to live in a block with a shared garage. in that garage was a huge old fancy chandelier which belonged to the landlord. I’ve always been a magpie so I used to pick off the tiny crystals and keep them as treasures.
Once, my grandma saw my crystal collection.
‘Where did you get those?’, she asked.
‘Um…I found them in the garden’, I said.
I thought she’d bought my lie, but she was smarter than that. The next day she presented me with one of the huge crystals from the chandelier that I’d been too scared to take. She smiled knowingly as she gave it to me and, in a conspiratorial whisper, said ‘don’t tell your grandpa!’.
I miss her.
you named her belinda todd haaaaaahaaaaa best thing ever
Angler — I love that he sang the Miss America song & threatened all your boyfriends! Totally rad. I’m sure your parents love having their portraits, it’s such a good idea!
Helena — Ahhh what an awesome story! She sounds like a fantastic woman. I don’t know what happens to people as they get older, but they seem to become much more magical.
Immie — HAHA I knew other NZers would be like, “Whaaaaat?!”. So funny.
My mums mum, Molly, looked after me when I was a little toddler. I lived with her because my mum was busy being a lawyer and my dad was busy being a professor, and after they had finished being busy & wanted me back, she didn’t let them. Also my mums dad, Poppa (or Gray was his real name), took me out on his motorcycle (when I was only 2) and we drove to the sea and went finishing until sunset. He caught lots of whitebait and made whitebait fritters for dinner. Molly taught me how to kiss as well, and when she died, I got up to where her coffin was and blew kisses at everyone.
My dads dad was quite different. He wasn’t as nice as Poppa or Molly, but he was very intelligent and sort of nice sometimes. He lived in a giant big house with the most terrible garden which was raided by giant wetas. He used to cook me toast with lots of butter. The thing that I liked most is that the toast was white, and I was used to brown. He also had round old-fashioned peppermints in his car and whenever we went out he would give me one. He was very old (around 80) but he was a giant Maori man, very tall and muscular. I sometimes used to be scared of him because he would yell at me not to suck my thumb. When he died I felt sort of relieved… lol
My grandma (mom’s side) basically raised me; I spent the first few years of my life in her company while my parents were working. Our relationship has changed since – not radically, though – but she’s still awesome. :)
I wish I hadn’t lost my granddad so early, there were so many things I’d want to talk to him in depth about & appreciate, his time in the army, the war, his stint as a boxer, I’d appreciate his wisdom.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a letter to my Dad’s mother. This is the first contact I’ve ever had with her as she shunned my father(his future family included) when he left the Exclusive Brethren(super strict Christian sect) in 1970. Woah! Today she replied and thanked me for sending her a photo of me and my sis. She says she is too old for visitors but that’s ok she wrote back! Heart swell.
I’m visiting my mother’s parents on Friday. They have helped me realise so many of my dreams over the years and I doubt they even realise it. I’ll make sure they do. Thanks Gala for the timely post x
my favorite grandparent was my great grandma mona. i called her grandma quack because when i was little she tought me animal sounds and it just stuck. she called me misty. she was the only one that was allowed to call me this. we would make peanut butter cookies and have mid night snacks at 10 at night. i miss her so so much.
Aw geez. I just got all misty eyed. But, it’s hard for me to pick my favorite grandparent, between my mom’s parents. My grandma died when I was four, but I do remember a whole lot of random things. We’d always spend our days gardening (though I did NOT inherit her green thumb), and cooking dinners for everyone, as well as playing with my dog. My mom stops dead in her tracks sometimes and gives me funny looks when I start telling random stories and just marvels at how much I am my grandma’s twin. Obviously, the woman has stuck with me, haha.
But then there’s my grandpa. Typical farmer guy, haha. I wish I had pictures of him right now, because his old Army photos make him look like Frank Sinatra. And he loved to dance. I do vaguely remember him and my grandma having parties, as well, where they would dress up, and they would have the radio playing, people would be dancing and wearing pearls, and my grandma would be serving drinks on a drink tray and smoking her cigarettes using a cigarette holder (much like Audrey Hepburn). I come from a family that chooses favorites, not that they mean to, but it was obvious to everyone that I was my grandpa’s favorite. He always did what he could to make sure I never had to want for anything (but he did it in a fashion that wouldn’t step on my parent’s toes). I quite literally lost my mind when he got diagnosed with lung cancer, but I did what I felt I had to do. I knew he’d drop everything to be by my side if I needed him, because he always had. He was more of a father to me than my own dad. But I put my life on hold and spent the last few months of his life taking care of him so he wouldn’t be either stuck in a hospital, or some monster nurse moved in and treated him like garbage. I learned a LOT that summer, about myself and my family that I never realized that I had. I was in the room when he died (it’ll be 5 years ago in just a couple days, actually), and I immediately walked to my room where my computer was always playing music, and U2’s song “Walk On” started playing…that memory is even better because when I was at a U2 show, standing right up against the stage, Bono and Edge were in front of me playing that song, and Bono kept smiling at me, like he knew. It was very much like that song was written for me by my grandpa. I even got the chance to thank Bono for that, because I honestly don’t know if I would’ve survived if it weren’t for that.
Wow. I think I rambled on more than I intended. Awards and love to whoever reads through the entire thing, lol.
I wrote about this for grandparents day last year,
“My Grandma was a really smart lady, she never went to college ,but she knew alot ,she had skills, she was well read and possessed a scathing sense of humor. The better I got to know her the more I realized how like her I was. This might sound cheesy but she became one of my best friends. In the years before her death she taught me alot , she introduced me to crafty things like sewing, embroidery, paper mache etc, she raised my knowledge and interest in current events, and taught me to question.”
My favourite grandparent was my Dad’s Mum. My Grandad met her when he was stationed in Fiji in WWII and they got married, moved to Dunedin and had 13 kids. She was beautiful and my Grandad used to call her his Fijian Princess. She was completely unflappable, calm and serene. She loved to smoke and play housie and the pokies. She was an identical twin, and her and her sister came to visit when I was 4, and whenever I would go up to one of them and call her Grandma they would both laugh at me.
My mom’s mom, Grandpa Jack. He sold dynamite. He had the twinkliest eyes. He wore Cool Water cologne. He always flirted with the waitresses. His favorite phrase was ‘shoot fire!’ He called the bathroom ‘the bat cave.‘It was standing room only at his funeral – everyone loved him. I miss him every day. Thanks for a great post.
My mother’s mother used to spoil me rotten – she worked in some sort of a clothing shop/factory and always had extra fabric lying around, that she used to make clothes for me. I used to refuse to wear pants, and she once sewed ruffles to the bottom of a shirt she made me so it looked more like a dress and I’d be more willing to wear it. Hah! She passed away when I was 6 or 7, so I was never able to figure out whether I was the favourite or it was just because my brothers were too young. ;D
And my father’s mother is quite hilarious to be around – she dyes her hair with shades of brown that turn purple when they fade, drives way too fast, and is probably one of the best hagglers on the planet. A few months ago, she called my dad and told him to take care of me, as I’m growing up and would start “settling down” soon. (I just turned 20. hahahahaha)
My grandad made my grandmother breakfast in bed every day of their 50+ year marriage.
When we stayed he made us breakfast in bed too. It was super.
oh my goodness! such a brillantly timed (and as always fantastically written)post as im seeing my gran tomorrow! my fave grandparent is my mothers mother Granny B, she has always been the ‘cool’ granny, (she was only 45 when i was born) but with pure white hair, exquiste make-up and always fabulously dressed. She is my first port of call for advice, she is so wise yet still manages to be a bad influence, i LOVE that! Last year she came round on christmas day wearing silver glitter in her hair, thats EXACTLY how i want to be when im a pensioner! One of the many great memories i have of Granny B is my mum asking her to take me out to pick up some black gym rubbers (anyone from Scotland will know exactly the kind of shoes im talking about), Granny B wouldn’t stand for such ugly shoes and instead she insisted i get these rubbers that were covered in a green jungle scene motif with a lovely butterfly on them, i was totally styling at P.E! Granny B also teaches me about life, that not to choose a man for looks as ‘you’ll soon tire off looking at him’, and that it is up to me whether I make my life a heaven or a hell, and for that I am eternally thankfull.
I’ve never known either grandpa, as my grandmother’s were never married. One, Joyce, is gay, and only had kids because that’s what society dictated she do at the time. No one else in the family really loves her the same way I do because she can be really difficult to talk to. She’ll be the first one to admit that she’s old and crotchety, but I love her. She smokes and watches Jeopardy all day.
The other grandma, Stella, is the sweetest old woman you’ll ever meet. She always carries peppermints and talks fast and whistles when she’s nervous. She loves cooking for everyone and has lots of interesting sayings from having grown up in a rural area. She has something to say about everything and it’s adorable.
My dad’s mom died before I was born, and we have never meet his dad either (he flew from the country after the military coup of 73). So the only granparents I know are my mom’s parents, which are still alive (and pretty young! both are under 75).
I love both of them SO MUCH. They are such a cute couple (my granma was 19 when they married and they’re still pretty much in love!). My grandma is awesome. She’s way more liberal than my mom, and loves to cook, gossip, watch silly tv shows, shopping…she’s very intelligent, well-informed, and witty; she always knows what I’m feeling before I tell her. We can talk about anything, from fashion to politics to boys. She’s a very beautiful woman and has a great sense of style, so much that I’ll wear one of her black pumps for a party tomorrow!! We have been alone together at our beach house for weeks and always have a blast :) I love to go visit her and my granpa (he’s awesome too! He’s very funny and ironic in a good way, and drinks a soft Bloody Mary everyday haha), and I try to do so every week :) I miss them so much when I can’t see them!
My grandparents are the most amazing people ever. I hope I get to dance with my grandfather at my wedding. He’s a WWII hero who met my grandmother when she was just 16 and he was 17. They were at a dance in a round robin and she was the first girl he danced with. After that he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to dance as well with anyone else so every time the circle stopped, he rushed to make sure she was in front of him.
They just celebrated their 65th anniversary this month. This is their wedding photo from 1944:
www.flickr.com/photos/25474030
I was planning a blog tribute to them as well :) Thank you for sharing your grandparents, Gala!
ahaaaaha Belinda Todd. That is awesome. I forget you are a kiwi sometimes. Larnach Castle was the BEST place to go to when I was little. I think the peacocks were bigger than I was when I went there.
Cool story Gala. Props from Wellington :)
i had a bit of an epiphany recently… my cousin (i only have one!) had his first daughter around christmas last year, so my grandma is a great grandma now. My great grandma died when I was about 14, so I figure I’ll be lucky to have my grandma around until little Caley’s 14.
i recently moved to the city that my grandparents live in (for other reasons) and work only 5 minutes away from their house. I have been lucky to spend much more time with them than I have in the past. She’s teaching me how to can tomatoes next weekend, which I’m quite excited about.
i feel like I have wasted so many years not getting to know them, as my other grandparents were always the “cool ones” because they were younger, but these ones are approaching 80 and I know that I wont have them forever. I want to learn as much from them as I can in the time that we have together. Old people have a lot to teach, one just needs to have the time to listen
this made me cry. My favorite grandparent was my father’s mother who died of cancer when I had just turned six years old. I’ll never be ‘over it’. The sad thing is that all I can remember ten years later is her being sick. going to hospital by train together with my mother and my brother all the time, the fact that I never realized that she was just going to be gone one day even though I saw just how sick and in how much pain she was, the day she died – my brother and me waking up alone, finding a note saying that our parents were in the hospital with her and somehow just knowing that she had passed, being forced to wear a black dress I just hated to her funeral and me playing Brahm’s lullaby – her favorite song – there on my tiny little violin and not understanding why it made all the grown-ups cry, and finally throwing a single wild flower I had found that day into her grave. Oh, and visiting the same grave countless times and asking myself if she really was down there now, six feet under and slowly rotting away. I kind of managed to cope though, with my older sister playing the piano for me all the time to cheer me up and me dancing wildly to her music. oh, I have happy memories too, exactly one to be exact. She made the best chocolate pudding I ever ate, and I remember being angry at my mother that she could never get the recipe right after grandma had died. Isn’t it sad that all I remember about her before the sickness took her away is the chocolate f*cking pudding she made? I know I loved her a lot, but I don’t even remember exactly why. I can’t recall even a single conversation, not even a word she said to me, no matter how much I put my mind to it.
As always, thanks so, so much for this article Gala, as terribly emo as I sound it was good to get this off my chest, I never talked about this with anyone, not even my best friend or my sister. & the best thing is, reading everybody’s comments made me put ‘become a cool grandma & a grandchild favorite!’ on my to-do list. I guess in the end this will end up inspiring me to work harder on getting my shit together and finally becoming a better person that way :)
THANK YOU. seriously, you are amazing. For me, this was your most inspiring article yet, and I have literally read your entire blog right the second I found it. thank you so much, & sorry for whining like that previously.
I love this post and the responses!
I visited Larnach Castle when I was in NZ a few years ago… that area is so lovely.
My mother’s mother is the best. Generous, forgiving, and truly magical. She’s the only person in my family who really gets me. No matter what I’ve done, she’s always there and never judges. My favorite memories are picking blueberries with her and watching cartoons. When I lived with her she would invite me to tea with her girlfriends and it was fantastic to watch all these older ladies gossip and worry about all the things younger girls do.
I have no grandparents left now :( But I have great memories of my mom’s mom. She’s definitely where I get my sense of humor from, and my ridiculously loud and obnoxious laugh! I’ll never forget her.
My mother’s mother is crazy. My father’s mother tends to be distant with me. I never met my mother’s father [and prefer to pretend he doesn’t exist], but my father’s father…
My grandpa is a gruff, tough, sarcastic man with a wicked sense of humor. He’ll call anyone on their BS and isn’t afraid to yell at a kid who is misbehaving. He’s also secretly very tender and sweet. When I was a child he would put me down for naps and brush his hand over my eyes until they would finally stay shut for sleep. He would also come in when he thought we had fallen asleep at night to check in on me and my brothers, or perhaps just to see us stay still long enough to NOT be brats. He really treasured us despite his tough demeanor.
My favorite grandparent was my mother’s father, John O’Shea, whom I called Bup. He was the first in his family of Irish immigrants to go to college, and he romanced my grandmother Bea from afar while she was a nurse, and he was in Germany during WWII. I have a photo of him, barely 18 with only one stripe on his Army greens, drinking a beer with a buddy from Southie all the way over in Europe. He died when I was 7.
I had a phase awhile back, feeling really stagnated in my writing and feeling liked I’d wasted the two years I gave myself after college to write my epic novel (which still isn’t done, hah). I cried to my mother that Bup would be upset with me for not achieving, etc. I got not one, but THREE emails not too long after that accepting various bits and bobs of writing, so the man and I went to a local restaurant to celebrate. On the way there, I commented that Bup would be pleased about the poems; he was a literature buff who told me about JD Salinger when I was only 5. When we were seated in the restaurant, it was right next to a framed parchment of the O’Shea coat of arms.
It was definitely a giant hug from the Universe.
My favourite grandparent is, undeniably, my maternal grandmother.
I’ve never met my maternal grandfather – he died two years before I was born. I’m currently living with my paternal grandparents and have been for the last (little under a) year. My own parents died in a car crash the week after my 18th birthday, and I was in a Harry Potter-style arrangement, complete with mean aunt. I was only asked to live here when she kicked me out – and in my heart (even though I know it’s wrong to hold grudges), I can never really forgive my paternal grandmother for bragging to people about how good she is for taking me in when she felt she could handle it, and also bullying me into having my parents’ funeral when it was convenient for them. My grandfather, however, is lovely, and tries very hard to understand me, but I still feel a little neglected because he always makes a fuss over my boy cousins that he never made over me, and he’s very traditional in the ways of “women in the kitchen”.
My maternal grandmother, however, is my favourite. I actively go and see her at least one a month, and she’s always happy to see me. She tells me stories about her life, and about my parents (my paternal grandparents rarely, if ever, talk about them) and things about when I was little, and assured me (when my aunt told me I was a complete secret (my mother hid for 6 months from her family before she had me) and was almost adopted out) that my parents fell in love with me at first sight and couldn’t let me go. She lives with my uncle in what she calls “shanty-town”, a little house in the inner-city suburbs, where she’s lived for over fifty years, and I used to love going to her house when I was little – my mother worked two jobs because my father was still in uni, and so she would look after me – and thus my love of everything Grease, and old movies, was born! I owe her (and my parents) the basis of who I am today.
Thank you Gala, for writing this article!
I had the BEST Grandad EVER on my Mum’s side. He was a big, tall Irish man and pretty much a giant to me as a child. He would tell amazing fantastical stories about growing up on a farm in Ireland with 11(!) siblings. About the trouble he got into at school. And stories about the naughty things my mum did as a child, which would make me cackle with glee when I was young and in mischief. He had funny habits like clapping his hands really loudly to startle us, then blaming it on ‘the fairy on the roof’. He made ridiculous claims such as how he shot 12 Nazis in the desert with one bullet in WWII, when in actual fact he was 13 when the war broke out and he eventually served in the Home Guard in Ireland! Everything he said was designed to entertain and delight us. He really was just made to be a Dad and a Grandad. He used to show up in my mum’s classes at school and tell the teacher she had a Dr’s appointment and take her out for the day!
I could go on all day but basically there is nothing that could persuade me that anyone else had a better Grandad than me. I’m devastated that my boyfriend never got to meet him. He would have teased him mercilessly and treated him with great suspicion until he was sure he was going to look after me but ultimately I know they would have gotten on amazingly well.
His relationship with my Nan was the one to which I will hold up every relationship I ever have. They’d been married for over 50 years when he died and they were totally devoted to each other the whole time, and you could see it in them.
I still can’t believe he’s gone, it just seemed like he would go on forever.
My other Grandad died when I was 11 and because he wasn’t as fun as my other Grandad, I wasn’t as close to him but I really wish I had been. He was an incredible painter, especially portraits. And I only found out after he died that he had a photography business in the 50s and I’ve got a lot of his old cameras and his darkroom equipment now. He was also in the infantry in WWII and saw some serious action. All I know is that he was part of the liberation of one of the larger concentration camps but he wouldn’t talk about it in detail. All in all he had an amazing, often hard, but always interesting life and I wish I’d have been older when he died because I don’t think I was old enough to realise how amazing a person he was.
My Nana is awesome. She is loved by everyone, and is pretty much the coolest person in my whole family. Wise, compassionate, intelligent, brave, interested in everything, she emails, skypes, and checks everyone’s blogs at the age of ‘over 80’. She has true moral integrity, and will talk for hours! I only hope that one day I can be as amazing as she is.
Hey Gala.
I am from New Zealand too =)
I live in Australia now but when I read your blog mentioning Larnach Castle I immediately felt homesick.
So with much persuasion have convinced by wonderful boyfriend to fly home with me.
We willed be visiting Larnach Castle and all the Wonders of Home.
xx
The double-sided cassette tape thing is adorable! I want to steal that idea for my grandchildren and update it for the 2000s :)
My mom’s father is the only grandparent I’ve gotten to know super well. When I was little he would drive 20 miles out from the East Bay to hang out with me in San Francisco. We would go get ice cream at Double Rainbow. I also vividly remember sitting with him in my room in SF and having him teach me to write out my numbers and tie my shoes. He’s an amazing guy, he has survived so much and is sometimes emotionally distant, but I love him a lot.
My favourite grandparent is the only one who isn’t still living. This may be part of it – it’s possible that I’ve just thought about him most recently, but I don’t think so. More so, I felt special to him…I was his only granddaughter, and as a slightly chauvinistic, old-fashioned European man, girls were somewhat “special” :)
Everytime he called he would pretend to be Santa (right up until I was 21). Whenever he visited, we’d go to the donut shop a few blocks away (a luxury, at the time), or I’d put curlers in his hair and he would sometimes tell me about Belgium.
A few months before he died (unexpectedly), my friend and I were preparing for a Big European Adventure, and I decided it would be fun to see where my grandfather was from, if possible. He ended up putting me in touch with his cousin, who picked my friend and I up in Bruges and took us to the tiny town my grandfather was born in. She showed us the house and various other family sites (including the houses of the family enemies!). We stayed with his family and I spoke to him on the phone from his hometown.
When he died, I couldn’t believe how grateful I was that I had had that experience. I know it made him happy and seeing the places your grandparents are from is a really wonderful experience that brings you that much closer to them.
I miss seeing my grandparents. They live so far away from me and I never really have the chance to see them (or any other extended family)
I don’t have one specific favorite memory of my nana and papa (my mothers parents), but they are such a hoot! I used to put puzzles together with my nana, and my papa (over 6 foot tall and VERY intimidating) would lie down on the floor, watch tv, and ask me to brush his hair (in a similar manner of a dog begging for attention).
The last time I saw them was over a year ago and their age caught up with them (86 and 82). My papa has been in and out of the hospital from chemo and they look very tired. They used to look so youthful (all things considered). I miss seeing them and hope I get to see them soon.
Thanks for posting about this!
One thing I forgot to mention (and though its small, I feel it is worth the mention). My nana is such an amazing cook and spoiled the hell out of my older brother and myself with cookies, cakes, and ice cream (and coffee cake and danishes in the morning.
I don’t get along with my mother’s parents, and my father’s dad cut contact with us when I was very young. His mother died when he was my age, but I was very close to her sister. My dad’s Aunt Shirley. She lived in a little house in a place called Kurri Kurri, it was very wartime :) The laundry was even in a little shack separate from the house, complete big concrete tub. We would sit and watch classic Rodgers and Hammerstein. I remember the first time I saw The King and I. She would nurse me to sleep singing old songs. Cause I am the eldest of 4 girls, all within 20 months of each other, I frequently spent up to a week with Shirl. She would take me to the hairdressers with her and while she was getting her hair done the apprentice always used to plait my hair.
There are so many memories, instant Vienna coffee reminds me of her. So many things remind me of her. Tragically, three years ago she was hit by a learner driver on a pedestrian crossing and died. What really hurts about all of it is that everyone in my family, except for Shirl, are attention seeking whores and made her death all about themselves. My father, one of my Aunts, and her son, and I who were closest to her had to pick everyone else up and because of those bastards none of us had time to grieve. I don’t think I’ll ever come to terms with Shirl’s death.
But it makes me feel better to think that I was blessed to even have been so close to as great a person as she was.
Lovely post! It wasn’t until I gave a toast at my dad’s mother’s eightieth birthday party earlier this summer that I really got to thinking seriously about how kick-ass she is, and what an influence she’s been on me, but this definitely brought it all back a second time.
My grandmother grew up in the sticks Netherlands and immigrated to the states after WWII. Once installed on American soil she acquired, in no particular order, working knowledge of English, blonde hair, a leather suit which she wore to visiting day when I was in sixth grade (mortifying me forever), two masters degrees, a Shi-tzu named Bridget Bardot, a position teaching high school Spanish, a humongous and riotous rose garden and an amazing collection of costume jewellery, which she has always let me play with. Today she teaches English as a second language to migrant fruit-pickers and travels the world with her second husband, a photographer. Because of her there was never any doubt whatsoever in my mind that smart and stylish could go hand in hand and both be the better for it.
She wears Amirage perfume, which is not my favourite, but I love the fact that I can go anywhere in the world, catch a whiff of it on some woman, and be reminded of her. Last time I saw her she was reading a Danielle Steele novel in Spanish because, “it’s good for adjective review.”
I feel like I missed out on my best grandparent. my father’s mother passed away before I was born, when my dad was still a boy, but she sounds like a total hoot and I wish I could have met her. My Granda on my dad’s side is awesome, but my dad was never very close to him so we’ve never gotten to hang out much and as I’ve gotten older he’s declined quite badly in mental health.
On my mother’s side, my grandfather was a horrible drunk and died of alcohol related illness before I was born. And my Nana, although I do love her, is quite a cold woman and has never been very affectionate towards any of her children or grandchildren.
The only thing I have learned from my grandparents is SO much respect and love for my parents, because despite losing his mother at an early age, and despite an alcoholic father and distant mother, my mum and dad are AMAZING- I had the best childhood ever. It amazes me that they turned out so loving and nurturing, and I am in awe of the fact that it just came naturally to them as they didn’t have anyone to teach them those skills. I love my mum & dad :)
Unfortunately my mum’s mum died before I ever really had a chance to know her (I was 2) and what I remember most about mum’s dad was that he smoked like a chimney, had a dog that looked like Lassie called Shandy, and always, ALWAYS had sweets for us everytime we saw him – usually Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles.
On the other hand, I’m lucky enough to still have both my paternal grandparents and a great grandmother (who’s 94 now, can barely walk and probably won’t be around for much longer). During the school holidays we’d go into town every Friday with our great grandma and she’d always buy us treats and she always had sweets in her handbag. Both her and my grandma are great cooks and bakers and I hope to one day be as good as them. AS for my grandad, he never stops singing (something he’s passed on to my dad and me), tells stories constantly and is always looking for something to do now he’s retired – once even going so far as to organise my parents’ garage from top to bottom when he was visiting.
Oh wow, I think your description of your grandma is the same one i’d use if somebody asked me how I see myself in 50 years time!!!!
My late Pop was really chubby and had a wicked sense of humour. he used to tell us naughty little rhymes, eg: “the boy stood on the burning deck, picking his nose like mad; he rolled it up in little balls and flicked it at his dad…”
My only living grandparent is awesome. He is in his 80’s, and despite having one leg basically skin and bone due to polio in his childhood, he excercises EVERY day, drinks only green tea, flirts outrageously with all the old ladies at bowls, and enjoys cooking new things. He watches “happy tree friends”.He drives a kombi. He has his own special words/descriptions for things, ie. if something is an intense shade of green, it is blood green
We had a seaside picnic once, and he commented that it would be horrible “if one of those salami’s rolled in” from the ocean and drenched us all.
He always makes me laugh,and his lust for life and learning are so inspiring. I hope I’m that cool when I’m 80!
Dearest Gala, How adorable! I love my mimis and papas haha. When I was little I couldn’t say ‘gradma’ and ‘grandpa’ so they became mimi and papa.
I was just wondering…. Have you ever written an article on what to do when you’re in love with someone who already has a girlfriend? Because I am. And it hurts a lot. A LOT. So any help would be appreciated :S Thank you starry eyes.
xo
I love both my grandparents, but the one that holds a special place in my heart above most other people
(mom excluded) is my grandpa, or Papie as I have always called him. growing up, I always adored my papie. he is hilarious, first of all, and uses uproariously innapropriate french canadian catchphrases in everyday conversation, he pretends he’s the indian chief from peter pan when he says hi, he used to paint my nails and let me put bunny ears on him ( and then take pictures, but most importantly, he does little gestures that are special for me. When my mom would say how he wasnt present when she was young, it makes it so much more special when he’d buy me bologna when i came to visit, so i could make my favorite sandwich. Or he’ll walk me to the mall now that i have a broken leg. There is no one in the world i find funnier, more sarcastic or more fun to be around than my papie.
I’ve been incredibly blessed regarding grandparents. My mother’s parents and my father’s mother have been a second set of parents to me. They’ve all had such a massive influence on my upbringing and have made me the person I am today. They’ve been there for me through everything.
I know not everyone gets to have the wonderful relationship that I have with my grandparents and I feel incredibly sorry for those who never got to know their grandparents. My father’s father sadly passed away a few years ago and I always regret not getting to know him better. He lived a few hours away and unfortunately I wasn’t very close to my father until recently and so I did not get to have that relationship with his dad, my grandpa.
I hope my mum’s parents and my dad’s mum will be around for a long time yet as I can’t imagine living without them in my life!!
Thank you Gala for yet another wonderful post that makes me greatful for the life I have! xoxo
Oh my gosh I was just talking about how much I love my grandparents yesterday!!
I don’t think I have a favourite grandparent, because all my grandparents are totally awesome.
My mother’s father makes the most amaaaaazing rustic Italian food (he spent his childhood living on a farm in the hills of Rome), and when I did a biography on him for a class in high school, I brought in a picture of him when he was 19, and everyone (including my male teacher) said he was hot. Awkward for me, but he was super happy when I told him after.
My mother’s mother is unintentionally hilarious, as many old people are. She remembers the name (and address, and job, and childrens’ names, etc etc) of nearly every person she has ever known, and she has stories about all of them. She is also surprisingly techno-savvy. The other morning I woke up to a message from her on Facebook (!!), telling me to follow a link to a youtube video she made of herself singing a song with my name in the title (it was a weeeeeird song, which just made it that much more hilarious).
My father’s father is quite possibly the cutest old man ever. Imagine the old man from UP, but with wire-framed glasses and much less grumpy. That’s my grandpa. He will never ever stop working in his gardens and greenhouses. I’m serious. He once accidentally flipped his tractor ON TO himself and he was back working within weeks. I think that maybe he is Superman.
My father’s mother is just as cute. She is round, with wispy white hair and huge thick glasses. I love to do crossword puzzles with her, and watch All My Children and The Young and The Restless (she keeps me updated). That’s about the only TV she watches, though. Otherwise, she is out all day in the gardens with my grandpa, delivering plant orders for their business, or giving garden tours to local tourists (they have seriously nice gardens). She’s nearly 80 and still spends most of the day on her feet, but she always has time for me and the rest of our family.
Gala, thanks so much for this post. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I love about my grandparents, but now I’m thinking about it all and it’s making me smile. I think I’ll give them all a call tomorrow :)
This post my heart melt! I have always loved my grandparents more than anyone else in the world (no offense to my mom of course!)
I lived with them and my mom until I was 4, and spent everyday well into my teenage years at their house as I lived just down the road. I loved hanging out with them no matter what my friends said, I learned so much and had lots of fun.
My favorite was always my Papa, I spent countless days driving around old back roads with him. Listening to his stories, learning how to hunt, going on fishing trips, learning archery. He called me Pork Chop and we always pigged out on junk food when my Nana wasn’t around. A lot of my morals came from him. I looked up to him like no one else. He passed away holding my and my Nana’s hands last summer. So heart breaking, it’s even sadder when I think about how my Nana was with him since she was 14 years old. Grandparent love is the best.
I still hang out with my Nana as much as I can, our favorite things to do are antiquing and flea market hopping. We always find the silliest things and have a blast. She is honestly the strongest woman I know. I can’t bare to think of the day when I’ll loose her too, but again that’s another life lesson they’ve taught me.
People should never take their grandparents for granted because you can learn so much from them & create so many memories.
All of my grandparents are still alive. Half the time I’m not sure how I feel about my grandparents on my dad’s side, as my grandpa can be pretty cranky. My grandma is a really sweet lady but they’re both very conservative Mormons so they’re less than thrilled about having a non-Christian purple-haired nose-beringed granddaughter. Which is kind of ironic, since that side of the family is a hot mess and I’m quite the model citizen compared to some of my cousins!
My grandpa on my mom’s side is getting older now and I hate to say it, but I really don’t know him very well. He has health problems and is mostly just cranky any more, plus his memory’s not too hot. He’s older than my grandma by a good 10-15 years I think? I absolutely adore my maternal grandmother though. She’s the one who instilled a feminist ethic in my mother who then passed it on to me and my sister. And she is tough as nails, one badass broad. One time her car got washed off a low-water bridge in a flood (in February, mind you!) and she sat in a tree for something like eight hours before being rescued. I was like “Holy crap, grandma, that’s hardcore!” She’s all “You just do what you have to do!”. Yeah. I love my grandma!
yay for grandparents! I have one left, and at 32 I guess that is a good thing! She is my fave, but I think my grandpa had the biggest impact on me. He died when I was ten, but used to take me to the moose club, order me a kiddie cocktail, sit me up on the bar, and tell all the other regulars how fabulous I was. He also made me dig for worms at night…but that was not a good memory…
He had such an impact in the ten short years we were together that I gave my son his name :-)
Love Rach
Oh gee.
My Nana (Mom’s mom) taught me to cook (fried green tomatoes, fried chicken…we’re Southern!), sew, and the best lesson in life: It does not matter what everybody else thinks. She randomly busts out into dance in department stores, and is obsessed with Deal or No Deal.
My Pawpaw (Mom’s dad) put together an envelope for all 4 of us grandkids to get on our 21st birthday. I got mine a few weeks ago and it was full of old money that isn’t in circulation anymore (2$ bills, Kennedy half-dollars, and crazy old stuf!) I never saw him angry, never heard him say a bad thing about anybody. And I miss him more than anybody will ever know.
My Pop (Dad’s dad) isn’t a man of many words, but I inherited my odd obsession of professional wrestling from him. we’d go over to their house on Friday nights and while my parents were at the supermarket, we’d watch WCW/WWF and eat candy. And he’d always tell me to tell my parents that he made me eat it, so I wouldn’t get in trouble for eating so much sugar late at night! (I still go over there sometimes to watch wrestling and be made to eat candy! hehe!)
My Nant (Dad’s mom) Oh, she’s hilarious. She can cook like nobodys business. And look out if she’s watching the Braves game! She never swears or anything, unless the Braves aren’t winning, and then she lets them know it! It’s soo funny. She has a rather high pitched voice, gives EVERYBODY something on holidays (5 grandkids, 4 great grand kids, and 4 “wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends” to go with the grandkids! Not to mention her 3 kids and 3 sons/daughter-in-laws!!) And she thinks my pink hair is a hoot.
Ahh, I love my Grandparents!
Well, I only really know my grandparents on my mom’s side. For the longest time wasn’t really close to my grandparents just because I saw them as having extremely conservative views and being very vocal about those views. However, recently I have began to really realize that this was a total misconception on my part. I am now beginning to appreciate the uniqueness of my grandmother. She is actually quite interesting; she travels constantly, loves to gamble, wears animal prints daily, dresses in anything neon and speaks her mind at all times. Some of the best moments with my grandmother have been inviting friends on visits to her house and watching the shocked/amused expressions on their faces as she discusses her plans to meet aliens in Egypt and love for big game hunting.
Good Times.
Aww I love my grandparents!!
My father’s mother died when I was like nine but I still remember going to her house, she had an enormous collection of porcelain cats and always gave me jolly ranchers!
My stedad’s mom took me to peru…so YES! lol
Her husband’s always been pretty interesting too, they know so much and have seen a lot the world!
It’s really sad though because he’s dying right now…:’(
My papa (mother’s dad) and mimi have taught me a lot directly (and indirectly) about spirituality and seeing art in places you wouldn’t think of.
My dad’s dad is a great example to me on what not to be and also how people can change for the better. I still get creeped out by him, but after his wife died he completely changed for the better, donating money, visiting often, telling stories about his childhood and my dad’s childhood. Leaving something better behind. :)
My stepdad’s dad taught my stepdad how to cook!! hehe…so i get to enjoy some great meals (and learn from the best!) He works REALLY hard, and I don’t know he keeps up with it at his age…
I’m not really close to most of my grandparents.
BUT...
My grandma (my mom’s mom)! She had taught me how to sew, she would watch me in the summer, she home schooled me for three months when I had to move, she’s always supported me in everything emotionally and financially. She calls me her baby girl even though she’s got tons of other grandkids and I’m the oldest. :) And she’s a FIGHTER! She’s had all kinds of painful medical problems throughout her life but somehow managed to make it seem as though she’s fine. She’s showed me that no matter the situation, medical, emotional, mental, it can be changed for the better.
She’s never been much on cooking and cleaning, always about all day shopping and picture taking! :D
I don’t what I’d do without her. ♥♥♥♥♥
My grandmother passed away right before my high school graduation, but I would like to believe that she’s still looking down on me and for me, especially when I need her most.
Gala, I was just wondering if you have an LiveJournal? I see you linking over there a lot and I was just wondering if you would like to be livejournal friends with me? I’m sunday_best on there. Thanks!
omg belinda todd. hahahha
i don’t like my father’s parents [long story, lotsa drama] but my mom’s dad loved to spoil us. he would babysit me and my cousin and let us eat sandwiches of just chocolate and bread. that’s all i really remember of him, but it was the coolest thing ever.
none of our family except my mom’s sister and her kids live here, so they’re my closest family, really. but your grandma sounded like an amazing person.
Dunedin’s my hometown! You should come back to Larnach Castle for old times sake ;). Would be lovely to see you brightening the city up
I love my Father’s father- Pop Ralph. He makes up all these silly jokes and little sayings out of the blue and we call him Bozo. He still takes me for rides on his motorbike and buys me ice cream on the beach.
I love him.
This is lovely! My favourite grandparents were my mother’s parents. They didn’t have much, but they were the kindest, most generous and caring people that you could ever meet. They’ve never been anything even close to wealthy, but they don’t care and never have – what’s always been important to them is love and laughing, and my sister and I have the best childhood memories from staying with them every December/January in Whakatane.
I don’t think I could choose a favourite grandparent! I never met my Dad’s Dad, who died when he was only a couple of weeks old (and the story behind that is interesting – and I only found out the whole story when I took one Grandma to visit the other…) and my Mum’s Dad died when I was eight, but by all accounts we would have got on great, since he had a wicked sense of humour. Unfortunately, he was a POW in WW11 and never really recovered from it.
My Grandmas are both awesome though, they’ve both been through a lot and I love them loads. My Dad’s Mum just got taken to Wimbledon by my Uncle, got to sit centre court and see Federa and got a hat and general excitement. Last time I visited her, I told about going vegan and my plans for world domination, and she completely understood and told me that the only way to be happy was to do what I wanted, not anybody else.
My Mum’s Mum talks and talks and talks and knows it, even when she has to go through all her children’s and grandchildren’s names before she gets to mine. Somehow she manages to do this to everyone! She went to Australia and NZ a few years ago, at eighty!, to visit our random cousins and relatives out there, and I really hope I’m still exploring the world when I’m her age. Massive inspirations all, and did I mention how I love them?
Awesome post, think I’m gonna go call them this afternoon…xx
I loved my step-grandfaather, who died when I was 4 years old. That’s pretty young but I know that I loved him SOOOO much.
Now I’m 22 and unfortunately there’s only the father of my mother left. We rarely see each other and don’t have a real connection, since I get to know him first when I was already 15. (Until then I thought my step-grandpa was my biological grandfather…)
I also loved my grandmother (mothers side) very much… she died 2002. :-/
I envy all those who still have all of their grandparents when they’re grown up. That’s a real gift. My problem is, that I was born pretty late and now even my father is almost 70 – when I was a child there were even kids who thought that my father were actually my grandfather.
To be honest his age (and getting older in general) frightens me since he lives far away in Hungary and he’s all alone…
things are kind of complicated. i actually feel that my primary grandparent was always my great grandmother. everyone in the family called her nan, and she was nearly 100 when she died. i remember when i was little we’d bake cakes together, and i’d sit in front of her chair next to the fire on her scratchy rug and she’d tell me about her husband eddie who died before i was born, and about the wars, about her dad who was called frances like her, about what my grandma and her brother and sister were like when they were little. as i got older i’d be able to take more responsibility for looking after her. we’d wander down the street and she could lean on my arm, we’d stop and say hi to all the people she knew, go to the supermarket, or to church (i’m an atheist but it meant loads to her, and i used to love her and the other old ladies bitching about the new vicar). i’d always drink lemonade at her house, and she had this funny habit of insisting that wrapped biscuits be put out on a plate. i knitted and felted her a pair of slippers the christmas before she passed away and she barely ever took them off. she was a real strong woman, she drank so much lucozade we said she should get a sponsorship, and i remember on her 90th birthday she wouldn’t let me move from her side at all. she used to regale me with stories about my mum’s boyfriends and always make me tell her about mine, and insist that they should buy me presents and take me out, haha.
it was painful watching her deteriorate in the last year of her life, and the fact she passed away when i was 18 and couldn’t see me graduate tore me apart for a while, but i’ll always feel grateful for the time i had with her and the fact i was patient enough to use that time wisely. plus, she made the best roast dinners and cooked breakfast ever. and never used to let my mum pay the bill when we went out for lunch, she’d tell her off for it, haha.
this post made me tear up.. so beautiful! I didnt get to spend much time with any of my grandparents.. my dads parents died when i was young.. we only saw them on holidays and my mum only has a mother and she doesn’t like granddaughters so we never really bonded. However my grandmas Sisters and Brother in-laws my great aunts and uncles we’re my surrogate grandparents and I love them like they are my grandparents! all four of them were hoity toity socialites in there day and because of this have amazing stories and amazing photographs, i would sit and listen to my uncle clive tell us stories of the day he got to hiroshima after it was bombed to clean up.. he left me amazing before and after photographs that he took while there, he also owned an art gallery and left me some amazing art books and paintings from his collection, i miss his stories and his laughter and of course his vovo biscuits! My auntie Helen and uncle max i still see regularly and my fondest memory of them is Special tea parties they threw for me, my sister and brother with Dinosaur lunch meat and tic-tocs and pink lemonade! whenever i have lunch with them now its usually out and about because they’re still social butterflies.. lol i do feel sad that they aren’t my real grandparents.. but i wouldn’t have it any other way!
I do work in a nursing home, and the plus side to that is I get 90 Grandparents instantly, I love them like they were my own and i get to see them everyday.. and im about the same age as most of there great grandchildren or there grandchildren! I love love this post!
My Mum’s Dad was all of our favourite (he had a lot of grandkids and a few great grandkids). From what I heard, he was a way better pop than dad – but you get that a lot I think.
He was about 88 in 1997 when I left Australia to go travelling. I knew I wouldn’t come home for many years and he was pretty old, frail and sick so on my last visit to the house, we both knew it would be the last time that I saw him.
He was originally from Hamilton in Scotland and I told him I would go there and have a beer for him. When mum drove away from his house I smiled and waved until he was out of sight then I put my head in my hands and cried.
He died about 15 months later and I found out at a phone booth in a hostel in Switzerland.
Two years later I made it to Hamilton. I was travelling via train through from Glasgow to Edinborough and my boyfriend (now husband) and I were the only ones that got off at this little town. We went to have a look around that morning and were getting on the next train at 11.20am. The pubs didn’t open until 11 but my b/f found one that would open for me, explained the story and they poured me a very hastey pint and they all toasted my Pop and drank it fast so we could make the train.
He was worth it! I miss him and wish he could have met my husband but I feel somehow from somewhere in some way, he knows my children.
xox
Hi gala
this is faisal from islamabad
how are u :)
your posts are appearing right on my igoogle page
this is also a way to bring visitors :P
I love everyone’s responses here!
My grandma is just amazing! So strong and independent and intelligent even though she never had any education or had an opportunity to work.
I have this amazing photo of my great grandma, my grandma, my my mum and me- it’s a keeper!!
this article made me cry. all of my grandparents passed away before i was born, i’m not ashamed to admit that i envy people who have/knew their grandparents. it’s always felt like something was missing since i never knew them
I totally love grandparents. My mom’s mom, I call her Nana, is the best. She so sweet and selfless. She looks after my baby cousin every day even though her body probably isn’t up to it. Every time I go to her house she has awesome food waiting for me. She was a professional seamstress in her day, so sometimes I go over there and ask for help with my sewing. She’ll try to explain it but eventually just grab it out of my hands and do it herself. :) She really is amazing, and I want to start spending more time at her house. She moved to America from Iraq 30 years ago, so she has some pretty amazing stories. Sometimes she tells them to me while we bake cookies together, it’s awesome.
Thanks for this post Gala, it really reminded me how much fun I have with my Nana!
xoxoxo
I love this post!
Reminds me that I must MAKE TIME to go and visit my grandma.
I love that lady so much, she’s the only grandparent I have (my mother’s mom)So many of my odd/quirky habits are also hers :) We share the same birthday and her name is my middle name. I remember her making me all sorts of crazy handmade dolls…the only one I still have is the one that looks like a blue octopus spider woman. AWESOME!
Definitely got a bit teary eyed.
Loved this!
Thanks Gala.
True story: I was born the day my dad’s adoptive mother, Mavis, died. In fact, she passed about when my mum’s labor began.
We are not related by blood, but even if we were, that wouldn’t explain why I’ve got her fondness for running around barefoot, her taste in country music, and her pig-calling skills.
I think Mavis would’ve got quite the kick out of me. :-)
Oh Gala! You’re making me well up!
My favourite grandparent is my Papou [Granddad in Greek I think] just because he’s greatand I wish I could see him more often. And my step-gran, his second wife. My mother’s mother died before I was born and I never see her dad, so I don’t know much about him.
My grandpa used to take me on trips in his huge truck, getting stone for my mum’s garden centre. I tried helping him with the farm work (and failed because I was useless at driving in his manual truck!) He gave me a bone carving he did himself the other day of a tiki – I’ve got it hanging from the rearview mirror of my car. He’s helped me pay for things because he knows that I work hard for what I have – and he never lets me thank him. My grandma used to take me shopping (squee) and because she owns a boutique I get stuff from there – all so purdy. When I broke up with my partner last week I went there and stayed for a few days, just to chill out and get away from the house my ex and I share – and now it’s all so much easier to deal with. My grandparents are awesome, and it’s their 50th wedding anniversary in October – party time!
I only know my mother’s mom. I would spend days at her house and I would get ramen and peanut butter and cream cheese on crackers with a cup of tea with too much sugar in it. Nowadays she’s the one I call when I need to complain about my mother. She knows my mother doesn’t listen when I try to be serious and talk to her (my mother has a shopping addiction and hoards things and it’s messing up her money and the house). She would always go to my mother and tell her the same thing I tried to say to her. She’s 77 now and doesn’t pay attention like she used to so it’s getting harder to talk to her about my problems.
The only grandparents I knew were my maternal grandmother and my mother’s brother’s wife’s father (what a mouthful!) since my father’s parents died when he was still in single digits and my mother and her father were/are estranged. So even though my grandpa Ted isn’t a blood relative he was/is a more present family member than my mother’s father who I only saw once (briefly, by accident) when I was little and was terrified of him! While my parents were in the middle of a messy divorce my father somehow convinced him to take a small part in our lives so my mum and I now receive birthday/christmas cards but we still haven’t actually met.
My grandma has always been the one to bring our family together at the holidays, making huge dinners with birds stuffed inside of birds and home-made trifles. She is frequently the butt of our jokes but takes it all in stride because she knows how much we love her really! When me and my cousin would sleep over she took us to the heath near her house to play games, she read to us when we got home and made us hot chocolate with marshmallows at bed. We also had our own cups at her house so there wouldn’t be any fighting (mine was the hunchback of notre dame and purple, clearly superior!).
When I started university she would always drive to our house in her huge car, we’d fill it up and mum would drive us the 2.5hrs there, then they would make the journey back, so for her it was about 6hrs travel in a day. Each time my grandma made sandwiches for the trip and spare for me to have afterwards, she sent money for food and fun and I really only went to my graduation because she would have been so disappointed not to go along! My mum is convinced I’m her favourite grandchild ;)
Part of my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days is to write to her at least once a fortnight because she will like receiving mail (who doesn’t?) and I get to hear her life story, like growing up in Israel with her missionary parents and her arranged marriage to my grandfather :)
hmmm, I have a few things to say
1. my dad’s parents died when I was a baby. they sound like they were nice people. they would have turned 100 next year if they were still alive!
2. my grandpa on my mum’s side was great – he was a really active aussie bloke type, fishing at the beach every morning, always building random stuff in his huge shed (which had a sign on the door saying “The cubbyhouse” – he used to hide from my grandma in there). he had heaps of funny old man sayings and he was generally cool. but he died 6 years ago
3. my mum’s mum is a really horrible person who made my mother’s life hell when she was younger, and now that grandpa is gone she is even more unbearable. she’s rude and self-centred and has the guilt trip down to a fine art. she’s my only remaining grandparent so I feel kinda ripped off on the grandparent front.
4. I’ve been reading the archives of this blog lately, because I liked it so much better in it’s earlier years, and as much as I don’t like talking about grandparents, this post is a lot like your older ones. so yay.
i am very close to my father’s family. my grandmother, my grandfather, and my great grandmother are all still alive. my great grandmother, my grandma mary, is one of the most miraculous people in my life. she’s 93 and won’t let a soul help her with anything. she tells great stories about people i’ve never met and speaks italian as well as english, and gave me a cookbook that she wrote with recipes from old italy. she calls tortelini “umbelico soup.” her daughter, my grandmother, is the person i take after most in life. she’s loud and in charge of six children and five grandchildren, and is always making sure we have plenty to eat. my grandpa is wonderful. he is sweet and soft spoken and likes to tell me stories about how he was stationed in germany and france during the vietnam war. he tells stories about how the most memorable anniversary with my grandma is the one where he went hunting with my uncle tony, and grandma got so mad she picked up the spare shotgun and fired after them. he has alzheimer’s, so it’s hard to watch him deteriorate and i treasure every moment i have with him.
thank you for this, gala. i always take a moment to talk about my family because they are the most special thing i have in my life.
oh, and something a friend told me today about her grandfather, who died before she was born. he made a drum for older brother, and the head of the drum is made out of x-ray paper, and just the other day she discovered it was an x-ray of his chest, which is amazing because there are only two other pictures of him that the family has.
i live with my grandma (as well as my mom). my grandma is amazing, she makes me beans like, three times a week and sews me beautiful skirts that i wear everywhere. BY HAND. no machine necessary :D
Gonny (my name for Grandma Betty who I’m named after) took care of me for the first five years of my life. Everyday my parents would drop me at her house before they went to work. We watched Sesame Street first thing in the morning, and right before my mom took me home (Gonny and my mom would smoke a “social” cigarette while I watched the repeat episode).
During the day we would build massive tents in her beautiful, perfectly stylish living room (she was never afraid that our game would mess anything up). She would pull out her favorite pieces of jewelery and knock on my tent door, pretending to be the avon lady. She would entice me to “buy” the jewelery by retelling me the stories of how she got each piece.We would have broiled grilled cheese with pickles hidden in the middle for lunch. My Gonnypa (Grandpa Bill) would come home from work just to see me during lunch, and the three of us would go outside in their massive garden and sit underneath a pear tree to eat. They would tell me stories about when they were separated during WWII and how they found each other again. Just writing this and reading your post and the above comments reminds me how much I love them!
I love my grandparents (on my mums side), they’re so kind and funny. We always have silly arguments about Christianity (my grandparents are hard-out Christians and I’m not) but they’re hilarious. Also, coming from a poor family but my grandparents being very well off I’ve had one foot in poverty and the other in luxury (despite not having a proper dinner every night I do have a snazzy laptop thanks to my grandparents), it’s taught me a lot. My grandparents have also helped my mum a lot with money troubles and thanks to them I’m going on a German exchange! I see them every week and I don’t know what I do with out them, they’re great to talk to and laugh with and even they they disagree on my beliefs in subjective reality it’s entertaining =)
Awesome post, Gala!
My Grandpa past away a few months ago and I really was surpised how badly his death affected me. His death was not unexpected, and even my cheapo Dad paid out a few hundred dollars to fly me from Melbourne to Sydney to see him at the start of the year when he had a stroke. Since I’m terrified of flying I count this as the bravest thing I’ve ever done.
I saw him maybe once a year at Christmas, when I was a kid.
He had a backyard the size of a football field and on it I learnt the great aussie past time of backyard cricket. I’m a six and out over-the-fence girl myself, but my Gramps was the bowling supreme well into his eighties.
He never said much but he had the sort of soft, genial eyes that sparkle with childish glee.
Aw Gala, this is truly amazing.
Truth be told, I still have all of my grandparents and two of my great-grandparents, so I don’t miss them enough to remember everything we used to do together because, well, we still do.
But for me at least, my grandparents are not under-rated. Well, most of them, at least. My mother’s father is, but that is something he brought upon himself – not worthy of explanation.
If I had to pick a favourite grandparent, however, it would be a tie between my mother’s mom and my father’s dad.
My mother’s mom lives with us, or rather, we live with her, and she is simply the most amazing human being I ever had the opportunity to meet. She goes through so much to make us all happy, that sometimes she forgets that she, too, has that right. I love my nana so much and I can’t see myself without her. She basically raised me, she taught me everything I know, she told me stories of her childhood, showed me pictures, taught me how to cook… My favourite object in my room, is her wedding album. I really can’t see myself without her…
My father’s dad… he is one of a kind, my abuelito. He was born in Spain and moved to Brazil when he was about his twenty’s. He came in a ship with his best friend and eight dollars in his pocket and the first thing he bought when he got out of the ship was a sandwich because he was hungry. And he fought, and made money and met my grandma and said ‘she’s the one I’m going to marry’ and so they did. He has the greatest moral fiber I’ve ever seen and yet, he manages to be such a funny person. At almost 76, he goes to the gym every weekday to do aerobics! He is the one and only true love of my life, no lie and the day he’s no longer with me I know something really huge will break inside of me. ♥
Oooo I love Larnach castle. I visited there when I was in dunedin 2 years ago. I so want to go back.
One of my favourite memories of my mum’s parents who’re still alive and doing great given they’re in their 70’s. My Papa paints and draws pictures and always use to do it with us. And they had this super awesome huge garden forest in their backyard with a bridge and mini creek and massive trees to climb. We use to have so much fun and adventures in there. I remember climbing this really tall tree and looking down on all the neighbours houses. Soo cooL!