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DiscussionIn appreciation of our grandmas
Tonight is the seventeenth anniversary of my Grandma’s death and so I’m thinking a lot about her and would love to hear about your grandmas too, whether they are here still or not, I thought it would be nice to share :)
My Grandma (born in the 30’s) was a very strong and determined woman, she had to leave school at age 14 following the death of her mother, to care for her father and three older brothers...one who died in the war. I can’t begin to imagine how hard this must have been for her as a young girl without her mum.
She went on to become a midwife, she devoted her life to helping women give birth, and became the chief midwife at her hospital - at a time when career options for women where so limited, she was a real badass...not the type of woman you’d mess with either!
Her and my grandad had a genuinely very happy marriage (he was a very hands on father and grandfather and they both worked and shared a lot of household labor in a way that was very unusual for the time (and still now, let’s face it) My grandad (my hero) and grandma loved each other so deeply and had such love, respect and understanding for each other - from a young age I could see what a healthy relationship looked like (not from my parents, unfortunately, but from my grandparents...well, it was true love 😊)
My Grandma was deaf and did a lot of charity work for hearing/service dogs for deaf people - she LOVED animals (especially dogs.)
We were very close. I was 11 when she died and can remember it like yesterday as it was my first close experience of death. I’m not sad anymore though as a lot of time has passed and now I can just remember my grandma with a smile and a warm feeling in my heart; here are some things I remember...
She taught me how to make pom-poms and cherry scones, she said “god-bless” every night before bed. She loved Nat King Cole. Blue was her favourite colour and she collected china rabbits (I keep them safe in a box - I couldn’t bear to get rid of them after my Grandad died over a decade later) she couldn’t swim, she couldn’t cook so well but she liked gardening. She had a special grandma smell (you know, all musky perfume) and I loved to cuddle up to her because she wore lots of soft knitted cardigans. She used to leave dishes of milk down for neighbourhood cats.
I love you, Grandma, you were a force of nature and one brave lady...I am so thankful for my memories of you 💙
Thanks for reading my waffling. Please tell me about your Grandmas if you feel like sharing :) I’d love to hear about them!