My Grandma Rocks!
Today is my grandma’s birthday. I don’t honestly know how old she would have been. Grandparents are kind of timeless that way. They always seem to be the same age. As a kid, you think that they are “old” even if they really aren’t; but by the time you are an adult and understand aging they really are old! Anyway, my grandma passed away three years ago this July. I spent so much of my childhood not understanding her at all. She wasn’t the laid-back, let the kids run wild grandmother. No, she had definite ideas about what we were supposed to be doing and how we were supposed to behave. We often accused her of being boring and mean and were afraid of her pointed fingernails! You always knew where you stood with Grandma. If she was pleased with you the whole world knew, and if you screwed up she made sure that you knew. I didn’t have to worry about that one much- my cousins did enough stupid things to make me look like an angel. Although my grandparents lived in Salt Lake, they made it a point to come out for every major event that they could. They were at every graduation and tried to come to as many Choir/Orchestra (Anthony played violin) concerts and plays as they could. And when they came, Grandma doted over us! She was so proud of all of our accomplishments. As a kid, of course I was embarrassed by the bravado. Grandma made a big deal about everything! Kids are so egocentric- that goes with the territory; it wasn’t until I got a lot older that I realized how much of an impact my grandma had on me and a lot of people and things. I could write a book about all the notable things my grandparents did during the War and all the stories they shared with us over the years. Here’s one of my favorite stories about Grandma:
Grandma very much believed that if there was going to be change in this world it would have to start with her. She was the first woman in the state of Montana to sign-up to be a WAVE during WWII. There’s actually a lake in Montana named after her because of this. During the early 70s, Grandma was a Representative in the Utah State Legislature. She served two terms. Of course, she worked on a lot of legislation, but there was one issue that she was particularly passionate about: pay toilets. I guess way back in the day you had to pay every time that you used a public restroom. She thought this was just plain ridiculous, so she sponsored legislation to eradicate pay toilets. Eventually, her Bill passed and the state of Utah was one of the very first in the country to give us the freedom to pee! Obviously, other states followed suite. So, next time you use a restroom in a restaurant or other public building, remember my grandma. If it weren’t for her, you might be paying $1.00 to go. Later in life, during a trip to Europe, my grandma was so upset by the pay toilets there that she organized all the women in the restroom with a plan: each woman would hold open the stall door for the next woman so no one had to pay to enter. It wasn’t enough that she had helped solve this problem in the US; she wanted to liberate Europe as well!
In some ways, I feel bad that I started to appreciate her so late in her life. I really respect and honor my grandma. She is a fabulous role model. She wasn’t afraid to stand-up for her beliefs and put her money where her mouth was. She was a feminist but not in the negative way it’s perceived today. Grandma believed that anyone can do whatever they wish, and it shouldn’t matter that “anyone” is a woman. This view was even supported at her funeral when my cousin, Kristi, and I were pall bearers along with the boys. She defended her country, she had careers and interests, she was devout in her religion, she was a good wife and mother and she represented her community. She also loved and supported the Arts. Most of all, she was devoted to her family. We were the most important thing in her life. We made her more proud than anything else she had done. So, even though I didn’t fully appreciate everything about her when I could call her on the phone, I am glad that there is so much of her in me. My feistiness, resolve, passion and sense of justice and responsibility are all Grandma living on in me. I will be so proud if I can be even a fraction of how wonderful she was.
“I love you, Grandma. I hope you’ve had a lot of great reunions up there!”
Grandma very much believed that if there was going to be change in this world it would have to start with her. She was the first woman in the state of Montana to sign-up to be a WAVE during WWII. There’s actually a lake in Montana named after her because of this. During the early 70s, Grandma was a Representative in the Utah State Legislature. She served two terms. Of course, she worked on a lot of legislation, but there was one issue that she was particularly passionate about: pay toilets. I guess way back in the day you had to pay every time that you used a public restroom. She thought this was just plain ridiculous, so she sponsored legislation to eradicate pay toilets. Eventually, her Bill passed and the state of Utah was one of the very first in the country to give us the freedom to pee! Obviously, other states followed suite. So, next time you use a restroom in a restaurant or other public building, remember my grandma. If it weren’t for her, you might be paying $1.00 to go. Later in life, during a trip to Europe, my grandma was so upset by the pay toilets there that she organized all the women in the restroom with a plan: each woman would hold open the stall door for the next woman so no one had to pay to enter. It wasn’t enough that she had helped solve this problem in the US; she wanted to liberate Europe as well!
In some ways, I feel bad that I started to appreciate her so late in her life. I really respect and honor my grandma. She is a fabulous role model. She wasn’t afraid to stand-up for her beliefs and put her money where her mouth was. She was a feminist but not in the negative way it’s perceived today. Grandma believed that anyone can do whatever they wish, and it shouldn’t matter that “anyone” is a woman. This view was even supported at her funeral when my cousin, Kristi, and I were pall bearers along with the boys. She defended her country, she had careers and interests, she was devout in her religion, she was a good wife and mother and she represented her community. She also loved and supported the Arts. Most of all, she was devoted to her family. We were the most important thing in her life. We made her more proud than anything else she had done. So, even though I didn’t fully appreciate everything about her when I could call her on the phone, I am glad that there is so much of her in me. My feistiness, resolve, passion and sense of justice and responsibility are all Grandma living on in me. I will be so proud if I can be even a fraction of how wonderful she was.
“I love you, Grandma. I hope you’ve had a lot of great reunions up there!”
posted by Unknown at 4:11 PM
2 Comments:
Your grandma sounds like she was pretty cool!
My grandmother has a lot of cool stories because she was from Japan and grew up there during WWII. I want to write a book one day about her life and how she ended up in America. She was a very strong woman for her time and country.
She makes really great food, too. :-)
Our grandparents really were "the greatest generation". They did and lived through so many things that we can hardly imagine today. I'm glad that we have such good role models in them.
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