Grandma was special. She came from nothing, never gained much more, but got her family to grow from that. All 3 of her daughters did quite well in comparison.
But this being my blog and my story I’ll tell the stories of Grandma and I. Maybe I didn’t always make time for her, but when she needed me I was there without question. You’ve read about our adventure at the hospital… well that’s where I gave her the nickname “Grandmanator”. It comes from the fact that every time over the past ten years that we’ve taken her to a hospital, we expected the worst… and she always proved us wrong.
She is the Grandmanator, she cannot be killed by conventional means.
Dinner with Grandma was always an adventure. Coming from a certain level of poverty (or moreso a function of having grown up in the great depression) she never turned down food. In fact that was her favorite thing, going out to eat. Her favorite foods include:
Chicken Livers
Hamburgers
Okay that’s most of it but more than what she ate was what she did at the restaurant. Never one to waste, there was a guaranteed certainty that she would pack anything that wasn’t nailed down into a doggie bag. It got to be so comical that I’d start suggesting things she might not otherwise want. “Grandma, how about some of these Bob Evan’s jelly packets?”
In they went.
Just as interesting was where we went. Usually Max & Erma’s but often enough Olive Garden or Red Lobster. Once on an outing to Chi-Chi’s, which at the time happened to be across the street from Hooters, Grandma asked me if I’d ever been to Hooters. I hadn’t… and still haven’t. Now we all know Hooters isn’t exactly the place you take your grandmother. But you know what? I just might have taken her if she asked me to go there!
Grandma loved the animals
However one of the fondest memories of grandma comes from Christmas 85 or so. That was the year of Voltron. You see this wasn’t just a toy, as described on x-entertainment.com by toy virtuoso Matt it’s “The toy set that kicked more ass than a team of ass-kicking ass-kickers.”
Yes I had it!
More than just completing the set of 5 lions and their drivers Grandma actually WATCHED the show! Calling her wasn’t just a chance to talk to grandma; we connected on that most beloved defender of the universe. Even today when I pick up a Voltron comic, or as I start considering buying a masterpiece Voltron by Toynami, It’s not because giant lions make me all tingly inside… seriously they don’t, I prefer girls for that! It’s because it’s something I had with Grandma and though I’m sure she had lost that memory It’s still one of my favorites with her.
I’ll miss the feisty old lady who took on a petty cash register thief at 78. Or how she found a card for every possible occasion; sometimes with a strange dollar amount inside. I’m not complaining about seven dollars for Easter, that’s a pretty good resurrection in my book!
Grandma still had a sweet side. Though I joked that I had the only grandmother on the planet that didn’t cook, she always took me out to dinner even though I usually had more money. Offered me something to eat or drink 4 times an hour and wanted to please whoever was a guest in her house.
It’s good to have a grandma, especially one that sticks around longer than you expect. It just gives you more to miss.
3 comments:
I have tears in my eyes, but I'm not sure if they're there from laughing or crying! She reminds me of my own Granny Jo - who accidentally poured some of my Sprite (thinking it was water) into her chili to cool it off so she could eat it. This was the same woman who made no-bake cookies at 3 a.m., watched YO! MTV Raps with me, and bought me my first Lee Press-On nails when I was 10. Grandmas that are incredibly cool are missed even more, I think!
Your grandmother sounds like the coolest lady in the world. You were so lucky to have her. I wish I had a relationship like that with mine!
Very Nice!
Chad
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