ladykatza

my grandmother was born sometime between the first world war and the great depression in hibbing, south dakota, and deloras wasn’t her first name. you would think that i would know more detail than that, but for some reason it didn’t seem all that important. its written somewhere, i can always go look it up. but what was important to me was who she was as a person and the impact she made on my life. my biggest regret is that she always lived so far away.

grandma was a stalwart woman. she was of the generation that was shaped by the great depression and the second world war. a generation that was still mostly raised on farms and went to one room school houses where they were met out with stern punishment if they misbehaved. radio was a big deal for them, and they saw the industrial revolution give way to the technological one.

she raised five kids, four girls and one boy. she worked as a legal secretary for many years to help pay for their college and often relied on my mother to take care of the younger ones, as my mother was the oldest. but that is just facts…

grandma liked to play scrabble, and she could play it better than anyone else i knew. when i married daecon, he played scrabble one night with my mom, and she exclaimed “you should play with MY mother, maybe she’ll lose for once!” grandma had an amazing vocabulary and a penchant for puns that would make you groan. she had a dry, sarcastic humor and often would seem stern to anyone that didn’t know her well. oh, and she loved to bake cookies for her grandkids. oatmeal and raisin, peanut butter, and ginger snaps were her favorites. i remember the summer i spent in minnesota with them i would run off to the surrounding pastures and pick berries. i’d bring them back by the bucket and grandma didn’t know what else to do with them, so she made pie, and cobbler and all manner of goodies. she kept a garden, and i delighted in picking beans with her and then helping her can them. they had a basement full to the brim of canned goods.

grandma had a shrewd mind, and when most people her age got frustrated and gave up trying to figure things out, she kept up. she figured out how to keep in touch using email even before it became stupid simple. often she’d email me with some technical question and before i could even answer it, she’s send another one saying “nevermind, i figured it out”.

i remember her being a plump round woman, and then deciding one day that she didn’t want to be that anymore. she learned a new way of cooking and started walking every day. two miles a day is what she did, didn’t start until the age of sixty and i always thought that was the coolest thing. then, she was always an organized and determined woman. she’d do anything she set her mind to.

there are many things about her that are hard for me to relay in words right now, but i miss her and i am glad that i had her in my life. i am also greatful that she was able to meet her great grandkids before she died.

Current Mood: mourning