Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
i would say my favourite story or my favourite fact is that my grandmother lived her whole life in the same house , she was born in 1923 and lived there till 2014 , incredible.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,566 posts, read 81,147,605 times
Reputation: 57777
When I was 17 and a freshman in college, my paternal grandfather went into the hospital for surgery. Since they lived in a sketchy area, my father asked me to stay with her. It was closer to my school anyway, so I didn’t mind, and did it for 5 days. Every morning she made me bacon and a fried egg, coffee, and a shot of brandy. it wasn’t enough to cause any issues driving but after the first time I stopped and got some breath mints.
My grandmother was my mom’s stepmother. When she married my grandfather, she became a proper church lady, but she had lived quite a life before that.
I don’t know the entire story, but I suppose I can tell the bits I know. Grandmother’s father died when she was young. The family moved to town, and her mother earned a “living” for herself and children by working as a laundress at a large hotel in town. Later, before the kids were quite grown, she caught pneumonia from hanging wash outside in cold weather. So the kids were on their own.
An “old man” wanted to marry a sister, but somehow the kids fended him off.
My grandmother became a “bachelor girl” for a time when she worked for a city as a clerk. At some point she came into contact with an older, established man with whom she lived. He gave her several diamonds, which she owned her entire life. (I am in possession of one of those.) Before they could marry, he died.
Later she was introduced to my grandfather.
She lived a long life, into her nineties, I think. I learned to love flower gardening from her, even though we were not blood relations.
Starting when I was one year old, my grandmother always gave me a bouquet of yellow roses, with the number of roses corresponding to my age.
When I turned 21, I was living out of the country and my grandmother couldn't send me roses. I got a card from her and she wrote inside, "count the roses". On the front of the card there were 21 yellow roses.
That sweet lady had spent six months at every card shop in town, counting the roses on the front of the card until she found one that had 21 roses showing.
I have a few fond memories of my maternal grandmother.
When we had moved from Florida, we lived with both sets of grandparents for a time. So first, us kids lived with my maternal grandparents. She was ALWAYS sweet as pie. Never ever raised her voice, until this ONE time, when she got flustered about SOMETHING we had done. In a way, it was kind of funny, and she was trying to keep a straight face, but she used the word "crap".
This was the strongest word I had ever heard her say. LOL I started laughing, she started laughing, and we never let her forget "that one time grandma cussed." LOL
Another fun memory....my grandma and grandpa used to have a bear skin rug in one of the bedrooms. One time, she put on the bear skin, and down on her hands and knees, she chased us kids around the house roaring like a bear. LOL It was fun and scary at the same time, but we loved it. LOL
And one more...grandma and grandpa had a painting of the Mona Lisa hung in the hallway. I was too old to be spooked by it, but my younger siblings and younger cousins 'discovered' it one evening, and got spooked by the fact that if you look at the Mona Lisa, it looks like her eyes follow you. My grandma told them it was a haunted painting. Like I said, I knew better, but the gaggle of kids in that house thought it was for sure haunted, and none of the adults in the house (there were plenty at the time) told them any different.
Watching these kids trying to avoid looking at Mona Lisa as they came down the hall...priceless. LOL
Grandparents on mother’s side worked in a lumber camp in northern Michigan. This was around (1900-1910). If the horses or people had a bad cut, my grandma stitched them up. They were immigrants and wanted the kids to have an education so they let them live in the nearest town in a cabin with no adults, but a cousin in same town. The oldest of 3 kids was 14 and she ran the house and they all attended school. Today that would be illegal.
Grandpa on my father’s side lived in a small town. He had a dog that would go to a nearby ice cream shop and they’d give him a scoop and tally it on my grandpa’s “charge account”. He published the town paper.
Not grandparents, but ancestors from the 19th century: one of them was a deputy sheriff in Virginia just before the Civil War. He resigned in a letter, saying he couldn’t obey the orders to capture and whip any runaway slaves. Interesting to me. He later became head of education for his county in Virginia.
My favorite memory of my grandparents is that they were there to be a haven and security for my brother and me.
Our parents were "good" people they just weren't interested in being parents or in being married really.
Still have no idea why they did get married and the marriage didn't even last ten years.
Arguments, tension, separations were the order of the day at our happy home.
Things only got more unstable for us kids after the divorce
Our grandparents house in contrast was an oasis of calm stability.
Grandma was plump with the softest lap ever to hold a crying or sick child.
Patience and loving kindness were her outstanding traits.
Also being a fabulous cook. She could make tasty meals even a picky kid would eat.
She believed in fairies like I did.
Grandaddy was a tall distinguished man, he had a beautiful singing voice "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" was his favorite. Even though they had met and married in their twenties I always knew he was thinking about Grandma when he sang that song.
He joked with us kids a lot, gave us a steady protective kind of love and steered the helm of the household with a sure hand.
They were the Foundation and I thank God for them to this day.
My grandmother immigrated from England in 1911 with her family. She was 19 years old. She passed away at 99 years old. I have never stopped missing her. The BEST grandmother ever.
Throughout my younger years, she lived in a one bedroom, one story house all alone out in the country. We visited her every Sunday. Amazing meals done on her cookstove.
The house had no running water, (dipped a pail into a well near the house) Ice cold water, SO good!
no inside plumbing (used an outhouse) I was scared of it when I was young.
no washer and dryer (did washing by hand and hung clothes on a line)
and the only source of heat (and most of the cooking) was on a wood cookstove. She had a small electric frying pan also.
All of our Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving meals were all done on that cookstove, turkey and all the trimmings.
After she passed away, her house was torn down for a new highway to go through her property. My brother rescued the cookstove and kept it in his garage.
When my husband and I built our cottage in 2000, my brother gave us the cookstove. We had a few minor repairs done on it and it will always be used in our cottage to remind me of her, the best grandmother ever.
I remember as a young girl visiting grandparents, I was outside playing jacks on the sidewalk and a bird put a dropping on my arm as I reached out and I exclaimed - and Grandpa said - What a BOID TOITED on your arm???? He had me laughing instead. I had never heard him tease me before that. He was the only person that ever called me Christi.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
