Grandmothers

Today is August 24th and was my Grandpa Charlie's birthday.  If I had been forward planning a bit better, today could have been my blog on Grandfathers, instead today is about my Grandmothers. My mom's mom Della and my dad's mom, Catherine both had significant events that took place early in their teenage years.

For Della, it was the passing of her mother and leaving her the eldest of 7 children. So in her early teens she was thrown into the responsibility of mothering. Admirably, all the siblings banded together led by their eldest sister with education at the forefront. They became engineers, nurses and teachers.  My Grandpa Charlie actually had to wait to marry my grandmother until all her siblings were raised. Patient man that he was, he did.  And then they began a family of their own with my mom Wendy and Penny.

My grandmother died of cancer when my mom was 17 and Penny 15.  A bit of history repeating itself.  My mom became a nurse and my Aunt Penny a teacher.  When my grandmother's sister Hazel began her journey with Alzheimer's she would tell stories of she and her sister.  Whether they were true or not did not matter to me because they were of happy times and provided me with memories of my grandmother I did not possess.  What I do know is she was strong and determined and raised her own 2 daughters in that likeness.

For my Grandma Catherine, her teenage years brought about an arranged marriage - my grandfather paid her passage from Italy to America and she became his bride. They went on to have 7 children, my dad Carl being the youngest, and celebrated their Golden Anniversary.

I think perhaps because we lived with my dad's parents for a awhile from when I was a year old that my grandmother and I had a special bond.  I do remember spending time in the kitchen and can her saying  "mangia, mangia".  Perhaps my love of food comes from her.  I do know I acquired dishwashing skills in her kitchen - she later had a real dishwasher but it was never used ...lol.  

Both strong women in their own unique ways...and I thank them for passing that on to me.