My gramma Pearl Emma Lewis Anardi was my second best friend of all time...only bested by my mom. Neither women were considered friends by me in my younger years as both had their moments of meanness however I've been able to look back on years gone by and know that they were only doing their jobs as best they could with what they had.
Anyway, gramma was a stout woman and didn't have the easiest of lives being married to grampa but there are moments in my memory that stand out as ones that if they haven't left me know, they surely never will:
Gramma taught me how to tie my shoes in what I saw at the time as mean. I was set to begin Kindergarten and she told me that unless I learned to tie my shoes, they would not let me attend class. She showed me how to do it many, many times and I just had the hardest time trying to complete the job. Gramma never ever bribed her grandkids into doing anything, she just used fear. Her telling me I would not be allowed to go to school was just the ticket - within 10 minutes of her statement, I was tying my own shoes!
Remember getting those flyers about books in school? You know the ones, where the parent could pick out which books to purchase for their kid(s) at well below the store prices? Well, during my kindergarten year I had received one of those flyers, looked it over real good and saw a ton of books I wanted. Full of excitement, I ran into the house after getting off the bus to tell gramma all about it. I tried to bribe her, telling her I would do this or that if I could just have one single book from that paper. Though I couldn't tell you which book specifically it was that I was panting over, I can tell you that gramma went to her built in linen storage unit at the end of the hallway, opened the second drawer and dang it, didn't she come back with that very book! I didn't know how to read, but with gramma's patience and my absolute adoration for her at that moment, I at least could read the words in that book from that moment on.
1001 Childrens Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up By Eccleshare, Julia (EDT)/ Blake, Quentin (INT) (Google Affiliate Ad)
Just late this morning, I was talking to my middle one about the wood burning stove and double oven range in my grandparents kitchen. Oh, the table they had, too! Blonde wood full of nicks and cuts that today I can only see as character given to it through countless years of raising kids. Gramma always made her own pasta and I was telling my middle one how grams would throw flour all over that table, toss her dough on and roll it out for ravioli. I saw and helped her roll out her pie dough - man, that woman could bake up some amazing pies!
Gramma was an amazing woman. Her day was as follows: she awoke at 9:30 pm to get ready for work as an RN on night shift in Seattle, about a 30-40 minute drive from home. When she got home from her shift, she made breakfast before taking her husband to work at PACAR (Pacific Car and Foundry) down in Renton. When she got home from that, she did the breakfast dishes then got my brother and I ready for the day while my Uncle John got dressed. She'd lay down for a 'nap' around 10 am and get up at noon to make us lunch. Another nap for her until she had to start dinner before going to pick her husband up for work. She served our dinner and went back to sleep until 9:30pm. Could never figure out why grampa didn't drive his truck to work instead of making gramma take him and pick him up - going without much needed sleep and still expected to take care of all the required chores. He was a dick.
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