Grandparent Stories That Shaped Your Life:
We lived nearly 1,500 miles from my only remaining grandmother while I was a child. So I only met her five, maybe six times. I remember her as a tiny, almost fragile woman, with a sweet, quiet disposition. But there was clearly another side!
Photos from the 1950s show her up on a piano stool at age 73, painting the side of her house. No fear of hard work, this woman!
One story handed down in the family about her early marriage served as a strong lesson-in-life. It was 1909 when she married, and things were a little different back then. My grandfather not only ruled the roost but insisted on controlling the purse strings, too. When those purse strings got drawn so tight that Grandmother had a hard time buying food, an argument predictably ensued.
They were young and emotional. Words got heated. My grandfather drew his brows together and raised his fist. With a frown of her own, my sweet, soft-spoken grandmother picked up a cast iron skillet and brandished it in his direction.
In the end, no blows were struck. Sweet and soft-spoken she might be, but she’d made her point.
And that was not only the end of the argument, it was a lesson-in-a-story that got handed down in the family. Stand up if you have to. Don’t put up with domestic abuse.
Are there “grandparent stories” from your family? What lessons from your parents or grandparents helped shape your life?
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