Strong women- May we know them,

may we be them, may we raise them.

Final Tales of Quirky Grammas. I decided to do one more Gramma blog before I end this series.  I am enjoying the memories that come with writing about Grammas.  Of course, just after I wrote each blog I thought of more stories worth sharing.  So I will now share one section about each of our four Grammas (my husband’s and mine).  Every one of these ladies were present at my wedding, and now just one remains on this earth.  How time rushes by.  And I took for granted the time I had with these great women.

Gramma G

I knew her for a short time and not very well.  She had ALS for several years before I came into the family, so by the time I met her, the disease was somewhat advanced.  I never saw her walk well or talk very clearly.  The poor woman had to go on living each day while her body slowly failed.

What I know about Gramma G I have heard from my husband and other family members.  A very hard working farmer’s wife, Gramma G spent her days cooking and doing chores.  She made many meals and coffee times over the years, having the food ready when the farm workers took a break.   But she also was a sentimental woman who cried fairly easily, and she loved her grandchildren dearly.  The funniest story I heard about her came when one of her infant grandchildren sported a dirty diaper.  She picked him up off the floor, suspecting a full diaper, and stuck her fingers in the back of his pants to check the contents.  Needless to say, she pulled out the two fingers to find them covered in poop.  The look on her face when she saw her brown fingers made those around her laugh for years.

Old Gramma V

I have said so much about her already, but have barely scratched the surface when it comes to stories about her.  She grew up in the early 1900s and rode a sleigh to town in winter.  In her teens she served as a nurse maid, tending to mothers and babies in their homes just after birth.  As an adult, she ran her own beauty salon, helping many women look their best.

SO MANY funny and quirky stories about Old Gramma!  She always gave “Santa Claus Gifts” at Christmas, which to most people are small gifts placed in stockings.  Even as adults we received Santa Claus Gifts from Old Gramma.  While still living in her condo at age 90, she fell out of her electric chair during a deep sleep.  When she couldn’t get up she called her son to come over, telling him her two great granddaughters had pushed her out of her chair and then laughed at her.  One girl was 7 years old and the other 9 months old at the time, and the baby lived out of state.  We still laugh about that one.  After moving into the nursing home, she (we assume) tried to get kicked out by going into other residents’ rooms at night and digging through through their things.  She wanted to go back home to her condo.  But when her son told her he would have to move her to another nursing home, the behavior mysteriously stopped.  And my personal favorite story, Old Gramma actually kept track of how many “customers” used each of the two funeral homes in town.  She wanted her favorite to have the most business.  So she listened to the obituaries on the radio each day and kept a tally in her notebook.  Really.

Gramma H

Gramma H took herself much more seriously than the other three.  She smiled and laughed here and there, but most of the time life was serious business in her world, and the little things were a big deal.  Of all my Grammas, she was probably the most stereotypical.  She loved to bake us 12 different kinds of cookies and three pies when we visited.  Oh the sugar smorgasbord!  For earning money during her younger years, she mostly cleaned.  I know she cleaned her local post office for many years.

Similar to Old Gramma, cleaning thoroughly served as Gramma H’s goal.  Appliances or any heavy furniture needed to be moved if water spilled underneath so the floor could be adequately moped up.  My most vivid memory, though, is the dish washing ritual after a big meal.  Of course no dishwasher existed 35 years ago, so my Gramma, my mom and my aunt would line up by the sink to basically wash the dishes twice.  They passed all the dishes to eachother for a pre wash and rinse, and then again for the official wash and dry.  I remember my mom going through the process willingly because it was Gramma’s house, dishes and meal, but I also remember her later saying how bizarre the whole routine seemed.  Oh well, when at Gramma’s house we did things her way.

Gramma R

As I mentioned in a previous post, Gramma R worked as a registered nurse during her career years.  She had so much compassion for those around her that I couldn’t imagine her considering any other field of work.  Nursing was absolutely meant for her.  Even after she retired she spent a lot of time reading about new methods in nursing or about how to keep herself and her family healthy.  She always wanted to improve life for those around her.

One little thing in her life that brought her great improvement- cough drops.  She always had them with her when out of the house, and kept them in every room inside her house.  Gramma had allergies to the outdoors, which caused her nose to run and drainage in her throat (she told us this a couple hundred times).  I think the cough drops helped sooth throat tickles and cut through any drainage side effects.  She popped them like candy.  And she thought they would help the rest of us too.  Any time one of us mentioned a sore throat, cough, sinus trouble, stuffy nose, upset stomach, irritable bowel or joint pain, Gramma stepped right in with her bag of cough drops (I might have added some extra unrelated symptoms).  These were no special, magical cough drops.  They were just Wal-mart brand economy size bags.  But evidently they solved many of her problems and could potentially do wonders for her family as well.  Bless you Gramma.

That’s A Wrap

Well, all good things must come to an end, so this concludes my series on Quirky Grandmothers. To be fair, it seems that many people develop quirks as they age.  Some of us have possessed quirks all along, so our quirks just get more pronounced with age.

But why is it that older people seem to emanate weird-isms?  Do they no longer care what others think, so they just live as they are?  Are they tired of being all laid back and tolerant, so they just voice what comes to mind?  Is there some kind of hormone released during menopause that causes more concern over little things?  Maybe the fact that they live alone or even with just a spouse causes them to think about themselves too much or about their worries too much?

If you have any input on why older people turn fabulously entertaining, please comment on this blog!  I would LOVE to hear your ideas or even your stories about your grandparents.

Thank you readers for joining me on this journey.

I love you Grammas!  Thank you for loving me and entertaining me.

Other blogs about my wonderful Grandmothers:

Tales Of Quirky Grandmothers- An Intro

First Tale of Quirky Grandmothers- Gramma R

Second Tale of Quirky Grammas– Old
Gramma V