The grandma I share a first name with was the one that bought me clothes for my birthday. She was also the first OCD that I know of in the family. Since my parents both worked two jobs, she baby sat for us a lot. I cut her a lot of slack looking back because we were brats.
The other grandma, my mom’s mom, bought me toys and she got it that dolls were wasted on me. She bought me toy guns. Unfortunately, she had an unhealthy lifestyle—she drank too much beer and smoked 2 packs a day and ate a typical southern diet of fried everything. She died when she was 51.
My grandfathers were both fun. My grandpa Tom took me to Cubs’ games and bought me my first baseball mitt. He also told the best stories about growing up in Al Capone’s Chicago. He lived on a street that had a corner known as “Assassin’s Corner” because on any given Friday night, a car would careen around a corner, slow down a little, and then a body would be dumped out.
My grandpa Cal rolled his own cigarettes. Every shirt he owned had holes in the front from hastily rolled cigarettes. He didn’t get gray hair until he was well into his 80’s.
[Fun grandpa Cal giving me beer while potty training.I think it helped]
[originally posted on LezBang]
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I will guess that my grandparents were both serious and fun. Because my parents had me when they were 40ish, my grandfathers were gone before I was 3, and I attended my dad's mom's funeral when I was 9. But my mom's mom stuck it out so my kids could meet her.
ReplyDeleteShe smoked and drank, but never in front of the kids because "it's not the grandmotherly thing to do".
Thanks for the Grandparents blod today Rusty. All my Grandparents are gone and I miss them. I only really knew my Dad's parents and they were the ones that visited often. Mom's parents lived in Iowa and we hardly ever say them. I'll think of them fondly today..
ReplyDeleteLoved learning about your Grandparents! All of my grandparents are gone now too. I never met my Grandfathers. Mom's father died when she was two years old. Dad's father died the spring after I was born.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know my mother's mother very well. The "fun" grandmother for all of the grandkids was my dad's mother. I still miss her.