My grandmother's birthday is today. She would have been ninety-six. Gram died last June in a nursing home. She battled cancer several times throughout her life, and won. She had a heart attack and numerous broken bones. But her indominable spirit always touched everyone she met. Gram, Florence, a.k.a "Mac"(McCann) always had a positive attitude, but she worried about people incessantly. Gram greeted her family and friends with a smile, always. She was one of the most stoic people I've ever known. If she was hurting she really never complained, she just dealt with it as part of life. Arthritis bent her body, and she kept right on trucking like the "energizer bunny". Often she would try to take care of chores, even the hard stuff, rather than ask for help. We would scold her for not calling. I think she got a kick out it, as if she had gotten away with something. Gram was a really bad "fibber" too. She would fib about little fender-bender she got into, despite the evidence on her car's bumpers. She would fib about eating this or that. She would fib about knowing about something. Gram would have been terrible at Texas Hold'em.
We all love Gram even though she is gone. There is barely a day I don't think of her and remember her. She had some funny coloquisms. I wish I could remember them all. Let's see if she got mad at someone, she'd "Lay them out in Lavender". If she saw someone speeding, they were "Hell bent for election". She told me if someone was getting the best of me, I should tell them to "run up a gum tree, and stick there!". That was my favorite.
No comments:
Post a Comment