My Grandmammy
My maternal grandmother, who is pictured with me in my current profile picture, was probably the person I was the closest to as a child - yes, even closer than to my parents. I was the first grandchild, and my mother's parents cared for me a good deal during the first three years of my life. My parent were young and just starting out; the first home was heated by coal and most of the time wasn't quite warm enough. I would spend part of the week with my grandparents, who had two sons who were still at home (in high school and grammar school), then the rest of the week with my parents at their home. My memories of this are very vague now; I do know from my baby book that I was probably spoiled a lot. At just over 2 years, I only said "Hi, boy, and bye," probably because all I needed to do was to point at something and it was given to me. I also had some speech problems/impediments. I called my grandmother "bammammy" because I had trouble pronouncing the G sound, which many decades later, my son would have the same problem!
Even after my brothers were born, our grandmother showed I guess a favoritism towards me. And as I got older I probably went right along with it; I guess which child wouldn't like to be treated like a royal princess? If my parents denied me anything, I'd just tell my grandmother what I wanted. Awful, I know. I don't recall her being mean to my brothers or even me getting preferential-type treatment, but I suppose that is what happened. When I was 3, my parents moved about 1500 miles away, so then we didn't see the grandparents except for once or twice a year. When I was 11, however, we moved back and in fact lived with the maternal grandparents for a few months until we got our own home. By then, there were two more brothers and I as the oldest did take care of the younger ones from time to time. In fact, our Mom flew the two youngest and me to stay with our grandparents, then she flew back to Michigan and came later with our Dad and my two other brothers, and all our stuff. So again, Grandmammy was able to dote on me, but I remember her being just as caring for my two youngest brothers as well.
My grandmother passed away when I was 15 and in 10th grade. I remember her visiting with us at Christmas in 1967 and even coming down in January, but she was gone by the beginning of March 1968. It was cancer, and very quick. I did not get a chance to see her, but according to my parents, once she was in the hospital and on pain medication, she sometimes didn't know who they were. I did go to her funeral, and my aunt, who was a hairdresser, was the one who fixed her hair (her daughter-in-law), she did look nice. I still think of my grandmother, and from time to time I even say things that I knew she would have said. She also had this funny thing that she would do if she disapproved of something - she would shift her feet on the floor! And give a look that you just knew ... I think she also wore shoes that were too small for her, because her feet were almost always hurting! I used to give her foot massages.
Guess I just got to thinking of her today ...
Even after my brothers were born, our grandmother showed I guess a favoritism towards me. And as I got older I probably went right along with it; I guess which child wouldn't like to be treated like a royal princess? If my parents denied me anything, I'd just tell my grandmother what I wanted. Awful, I know. I don't recall her being mean to my brothers or even me getting preferential-type treatment, but I suppose that is what happened. When I was 3, my parents moved about 1500 miles away, so then we didn't see the grandparents except for once or twice a year. When I was 11, however, we moved back and in fact lived with the maternal grandparents for a few months until we got our own home. By then, there were two more brothers and I as the oldest did take care of the younger ones from time to time. In fact, our Mom flew the two youngest and me to stay with our grandparents, then she flew back to Michigan and came later with our Dad and my two other brothers, and all our stuff. So again, Grandmammy was able to dote on me, but I remember her being just as caring for my two youngest brothers as well.
My grandmother passed away when I was 15 and in 10th grade. I remember her visiting with us at Christmas in 1967 and even coming down in January, but she was gone by the beginning of March 1968. It was cancer, and very quick. I did not get a chance to see her, but according to my parents, once she was in the hospital and on pain medication, she sometimes didn't know who they were. I did go to her funeral, and my aunt, who was a hairdresser, was the one who fixed her hair (her daughter-in-law), she did look nice. I still think of my grandmother, and from time to time I even say things that I knew she would have said. She also had this funny thing that she would do if she disapproved of something - she would shift her feet on the floor! And give a look that you just knew ... I think she also wore shoes that were too small for her, because her feet were almost always hurting! I used to give her foot massages.
Guess I just got to thinking of her today ...