1930-2006

*In 1929, my 17 year old great grandfather impregnated my 18 year old great grandmother. They got married, and February 8 1930 my grandma was born. Shortly after, my g-gma and g-gpa split up(divorced?). Then they got back together and had another kid. Then split up again. Then together, a third kid. Split up. Together and a fourth kid and split up permanently. My great grandma raised Tommy. Ruth was adopted by an aunt. My grandma's great aunt raised her and her other brother Duke.

*When my grandma was really young she got run over by a truck. She was okay with the exception of a broken arm and a torn coat. The truck driver bought her a new coat and that was that. Apparently a new coat for a broken arm is a good deal when it's the Depression.

*My grandma wanted to join the WAACs, but she wasn't 21 yet and my great grandmother wouldn't sign the permission papers.

*When my grandma was young, her best friend was a girl named Becky. She was in Becky's wedding and everything. I guess Becky had some sort of health problem, and the doctors told her she shouldn't have kids. She ignored them, got pregnant and then died shortly after the baby was born. My grandma was crushed.

*My grandma's first job was at an ice cream parlor called Snow White's. It was owned by a Greek family. They had violated copyright law and painted a huge mural portraying the movie on the walls.

*My grandparents got married right before my grandpa shipped out for Korea.

*My grandparents had three kids: officially Michele, Diane and Daniel Jr. They went by Mickey, Di and Dee. When my grandma was 50, she had a hysterectomy. After that she converted to Catholicism.

*After the war my grandpa owned a store (the family refers to it as a pony keg--I guess it was a little grocery store). Apparently everyone worked their ass off and there wasn't much money. My grandma loved potatoes and for Xmas one year my gpa had a huge potato gift wrapped. My gma got really excited when she saw it and was so disappointed when she opened it that she cried. (This makes my gpa sound like a jerk, but he isnt. They really really loved each other.)

*When she was younger she supposedly had dreams that later came true. She said she hated it.

*My grandma went back to work after my gpa sold the pony keg. She worked as a bookkeeper at a big company and ended up as head bookkeeper by the time she retired. HS diploma only.

*My grandma and great gma both sewed very well. They made my mom and aunt's prom dresses and other special event outfits. When I was little she made me princess dresses.

*My grandma collected Santas and Snow White figurines.

*She and my grandpa danced several times a week, both round and square dancing, until my gma was rear-ended by a miatta four years ago.

*For family events she always made this really good macaroni and cheese in addition to whatever else was holiday appropriate. At easter she made jello eggs, including some sugar free ones for the adults.

*She collected bicentennial quarters. My grandpa puts away a quarter a day for everyone of his grandkids. When we sorted them, he would buy off the bicentenniels from us for a dollar and then give them to my grandma.

*She liked crosswords, talking on the phone, trashy magazines like Star, ice cream, the Reds, the Price is Right, and the occasional really cold beer on really hot days. She didn't like her green beans half done.

*When I was a kid she for some reason picked at a scab, mosquito bite, or splinter on my forearm until it scarred.

*We have the same pink birthmark in the same place on our palms. No one else in the family seems to have it.

*My grandma had one granddaughter (me) and 6 grandsons.

*When my grandma was 69, she refused to say how old she was because my cousin told her what it meant.

*She retired early to help take care of my cousin Jack. In recent years, Jack would leave work whenever my grandma fell to help pick her up.

*When she was in the hospital, my grandpa would refer to her as "my little girl" and she would become amused and exasperated because "here I am, an old lady."

*She told my mom that the whole family had all been acting so queer that she asked the doctor herself and he told her that she had cancer through her spine, shoulders, and pelvis. At any rate my mom shouldn't worry anymore because my grandma knew.

*I talked to my grandma for the last time on August 18 2006 at 4:18 pm. She slipped into unconsciousness August 19.

*My grandma died on August 22 2006. Over three hundred people came to her funeral. The mass was conducted by a priest referred to as the cowboy priest because he breaks horses in his spare time. My grandma thought he was cute.

*I love you grandma. We're sure going to miss you.