What has he/she accomplished in life? Would you like to be like him/her?

I don't know my grandfathers. I know my grandmother's ex husband, but he isn't my mother's real father and I didn't grow up with him like that. I barely saw him in childhood. My maternal and paternal grandmothers had 9 and 4 kids, respectively, and all of them graduated at least high school, some college.....if you wanna consider that an accomplishment, then that's all it would be. Do I wanna have 9 or 4 kids? Nope. My paternal grandmother is a bitch, so no....I don't wanna be like her.

The only grandparent I even kind of knew was mom's dad. And he was very affluent in his community as a business man. But he was a racist and never liked me because I looked too much like a Mexican. It was very sad to know that at a young age.

My Dad's parents seemed awesome (from stories I was told). But he died before I was born and Grandmother died when I was one.

Truth be told, I don't envy any of them.

I'm very very blessed. I'm 45 years old and I still have both my maternal grandparents whom I love with all my heart.

My granddad is from Lewiston, NC and he married my grandmother when she was 14 and he was 18 back in the 40's. He came to the city with nothing but managed to elevate himself enough to get an education and raise a family in an affluent neighborhood on Long Island. They were the first AM's on the block. My granddad is around 84 now and he and my granddma now live in the Outer Banks of NC, living it up. My heart is filled with love as I write this because both my grandparents are examples of how people can make it if they try and keep the faith.

On that note, I love my paternal grandparents too. They lived all their lives in England. My siblings and I visited many a times. They've both passed, but I think about them a lot. They were very open and accepting their son marrying a black American woman. I miss them much.

Okay, I spoke about more than one grandparent, but they are all my hearts.

My maternal grandpops can be silly. I remember growing up, whenever The Cosby Show would come on, he would do his Bill Cosby dance. He'd do what Bill Cosby was doing during opening credits.

They've been gone on both sides for years. I was never close with the two on my father's side. My mother's father was awesome. He started out as a newsreal cameraman. Every now and then we see him at the beginning of some on TCM. He went all around the world and was known to presidents and kings. He would crawl into some of the most insane, dangerous positions to get a shot. Later he was a cameraman for CBS in NY. Every now and then I got to go to work with him. I saw some stuff! My mother's mother was a pistol too.

My earliest memories of my grandmother in St. Louis were sometimes of her passed out on the kitchen table and mom taking us back home. She replaced the alcohol with Jesus in my later childhood and teen years and it was always nice visiting because grandma was a cook.

I took this pic of her in her element:


Memories of breakfast of eggs/hash browns/sausage or of chicken & dumplings fried pies and the family barbecue picnics with potato salad cole slaw and BBQ ribs, followed by watermelon are probably typical of a teen boy food disposal unit.

Grandma and Pop Al smoked and their house smelled of it seeped into the fabric and walls. They rolled their own cigarettes with a little mechanical device.

The only grandparent I have left is my maternal grandmother, or "Gram" as I call her. She'll be 88 in August, and I'm pretty much her main care-taker along with one of my cousins. She still lives alone and has all her wits about her, but has a hard time getting around due to age, compiled on top of leg braces and a walker from having had polio as a child. She can be sort of nitpicky at times, but overall, Gram's an ok old gal.

Here's Gram with me and my daughter:



And here's Gram when she was younger, and just got married. My Grandfather died in 1978 when I was 11, so I never really knew him all that well.

My maternal grandparents died well before I was born. Heck her father died before my mother was born , her mother died 6 months after my mother was born.He died of WW1 injuries, she died in the great flu epidemic that killed so many people all over the world right after the war. My mothers foster father also died before I was born.

That left me my paternal grandparents, thank my lucky stars. Grandpa was a soft spoken gentle man, but when he spoke one listened! I only saw him angry once and it was at me. Not something I wanted to see twice. He died when I was 18. Gramma was an old fashioned Matriarch, Strong as an ox mentally, hard working she prided herself on being able to work circles around her 2 adult daughters. I loved her totally then I love her yet and miss her every day since she died in 1975. My youngest uncle her son said he only saw her cry once, and that was when we lost our baby girl. When she came to us, she was ram rod straight and set to work , she wasn't gushy with sympathy she looked around saw what needed to be done and did it. She wasn't quick with the I love yous, I don't recall ever being kissed but she showed her love in everything she did for all of us. I would hear how pleased she was with me through other people, they would tell me "Oh your grandmother told me this and that" and so I knew she loved me. She was 85 when the doctors diagnosed her with liver cancer. They told us she might have a bit of discomfort, but it wouldn't be one of those agonizing deaths. As the disease progressed she simply slept, I'd call and she would be asleep, so we allowed her to slip away in her sleep. If there was ever any discomfort she never showed it, that was her style never complain. I would like to be like her, and in many ways I am, but I will never be the woman she was, I'm strong but never as strong as she was.

Never knew any of them.

Cheaps wrote:

My maternal grandpops can be silly. I remember growing up, whenever The Cosby Show would come on, he would do his Bill Cosby dance. He'd do what Bill Cosby was doing during opening credits.

He also always had the best junk food. He would keep in his room, in one of his drawers.

Hyacinth Girl wrote:

Here's Gram with me and my daughter:

What a lovely young lady! (and your daughter is cute too.)

Quote :

He also always had the best junk food. He would keep in his room, in one of his drawers.

Man, I hope you mean dresser drawers! "Grandpa...that's NOT chocolate!"

Alan Smithee wrote:

Man, I hope you mean dresser drawers! "Grandpa...that's NOT chocolate!"

Of course his dresser drawers

I knew both my grandmothers---- both were married 3 times and outlived all of them.

My german gm died when she was 93 and was a total nympho her whole life.... am i like her??? lol... u guys know that answer! LOL

She n her sister took me to my first male review... and they put change in the gstrings to make them fall of the guys!! "Im 80, but i can still get a 20yr old naked, watch and learn" LOL