Wednesday, November 2, 2005
For my Grammie:Most of my friends and acquaintances never knew or don't remember their grandparents. In my lifetime I've been fortunate enough to have known almost all of my grandparents and great-grandparents, too. Because of this I have heard first-hand accounts of events that have affected my family and this country since the early 1900's. I've been fortunate. My friends with no grandparents would tell me how lucky I was to still have grandparents into adulthood. Today, my brothers and sisters say goodbye to our last grandparent. Grammie. Grammie was quite impressive to me when I was a child. It always seemed to me that she was on her way to some swank party, or just coming from one. Usually she was. I used to love visits from Grammie. She'd come through the door calling our names, insisting we come give her hugs and kisses. We hated that part but she always smelled so good and she'd give us a piece of gum or peppermint candy. If we could stand all the hugs and kisses long enough, she would ask one of us to get her a beer from the fridge. My parents don't drink beer but there was always a 6 pack for the grandparents though. If you got to get the beer you might be lucky enough to get a swig! She'd hold the glass for us. I remember the bubbles would tickle my nose! She'd only allow for the beer to touch our lip and we'd have to lick our lips to get a taste of the beer!My mother would sometimes bring us downtown to have lunch with Grammie. Sometimes we'd even get to go to her job. Again, that was impressive to me. She worked in the then "skyscraper" Marine Midland Bank building downtown. She was the boss of people! (Grammie always thought she was everybody's boss!) How impressive is that for a little girl to see her grandmother in what was, in my mind, a very powerful position at her job! I wanted to grow up and be just as important as she was. As I got older and had more adult conversations with her she continued to be impressive. She was glamorous and sparkly and had great shoes! But make no mistake, as impressive as she could be, she could also be, let's say, "assertive". Grammie was one to speak her mind as I'm sure many of you may know all about that. Sometimes it was quite impressive to hear her speak her mind---as long as you weren't the one she was speaking to!Yes, I have been very fortunate, indeed. Twice in my lifetime I have been one of the generations in a 5 generation family and I have great respect and admiration for those that came before me. I can only hope that, in my own way, I can be just as impressive to the generations that follow. Goodbye, Grammie. Nee'na loves you!
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