Memories from the Grandchildren
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Lauren
I spent the summer of 2010 training to run my first ever marathon in Newport RI, and Grandma was insistent on me seeing the marathon course firsthand to be prepared. So we took a day trip down to Rhode Island that fall and drove a good chunk of the marathon race route together, taking in lovely ocean views along the way. Grandma’s nerves were calmer knowing I wouldn’t get lost during the race and run off the infamous Newport cliff walk into the ocean. And I of course had Grandma to thank on race day for being able to anticipate where the hills hit! Grandma always worried for us and would do anything in her power to make our lives a little easier. She was simply the best and I'll love and miss her forever.
Kristy
Sleepovers in Wayland with cereal and buttered toast in the morning. Teaching me how to make whipped cream from scratch, alfredo sauce, and meringue cookies. Picking blueberries and croquets in the backyard. Baking individual themed cakes with her for everyone, even when we were having a group party for the summer birthdays - we’d end up with many cakes per party. I had a kangaroo shaped sheet cake one year that I loved. She once said she liked getting us the present we really wanted because she liked to envision us using it.
The time Grandma was watching us in Westford while our parents were away and we had a big snowstorm that buried the shovels. Concerned for their return, she sent me and Lauren outside with baking sheets to use as shovels to clear the driveway.
The first time I went to London, and Paris, she seemed so excited and rounded up all her travel books for me. Every trip I took, she would look up where I was going in her atlas and recollect any stories she had related to the area. I loved hearing them. I felt such a strong connection with her through my love of travel, like I was continuing the adventures she started.
Jonathan
• Her whole Wayland house! I remember playing exciting games of pickle with all my cousins! Even though I was the youngest, I would do my best to hold my own. I LOVED playing for hours on end in her yard. The basement was awesome too were all the cousins would play all types of crazy games. She would take me and my sister swimming in her neighbor’s pool all the time. Jamila and I would always be fascinated to see all the little dead frogs (and one time a snake… that was alive!) and other bugs that would be in the pool. I remember eating grilled cheese sandwiches and dipping them in tomato soup!
• Trips to “Friendly’s” were always a special treat and we’d love to get ice cream.
• Walks to the pond near her house in Wayland that would be frozen in the wintertime
• One of the times she came out to stay with us in Seattle was when our old dog Ruby was just a puppy (a puppy… but over 100 pounds). G had made my sister and I some steaks that were then put on a plate and placed on the dinner table. As we were about to get ready to eat, my dog Ruby walked by the table and snagged a steak straight off the plate. She was able to do this because her head was at the height of the top of the table. G exclaimed “GOOD HEAVANS!” as my sister and I roared with laughter. She then proclaimed that Ruby was an untrained beast, and I don’t know if their relationship ever recovered from that moment!
• I loved how G would react to how much food I would eat at her Newton house as a teenager. She was so accommodating and always wanted to make sure I had enough to eat. Which was so fitting for her, always wanting to make sure everyone was happy and well!
The memories I have from her house in Wayland, and then Auburndale will always be some of my favorites. I remember when she came out to Seattle for a long time after my dad died. I understand now being older and a father of my own, just how amazing that was that she did that for us
Jamila ​
Popcorn Regret
- I remember my brother and I going to see the movie about extra-terrestrials called “Signs” that came out in the early 2000s. We begged her to buy pop corn , she declined. But then when we got out of the movie, she said “I wish I *had* bought popcorn because that movie was so awful I wanted to throw popcorn at it.” at about 13 and 11 years old we thought that was so funny ! Imagine G throwing popcorn !
The Beast
- Grandma made many trips west to visit us in Seattle. I remember one particular trip after my dad had died, my mom wanted the house cleaned, and everyone behaving - an opportunity to show that we were managing after my dad’s passing. I’m not sure our 120 pound Newfoundland Ruby got the memo. . . My mom made a fancy meal - steaks! She set down the plate of steaks in front of grandma on the table and out of no where, Ruby stood up on her hind legs, places her paws on the table, and grabbed a steak ! It was at once hilarious and humiliating ! G hence forth referred to Ruby as “The Beast”
A New Year Alone
- I have a bittersweet memory I have of my G comforting my mom in a tender embrace on New Year’s Eve 2000, the year my dad died. We had flown the Boston to celebrate Christmas. We watched tv as fireworks blasted off around the world. We were going to have to brave a new year without my Dad, leaving him behind - moving forward together, but without him. The hug I remember was my mom was sitting on the floor, my grandmother on a chair behind her, comforting her as they both cried.
Cards on the Table
- I have so many general memories of us playing cards that a specific one doesn’t stand out. But one of my favorite G catch phrases that she would say in a classically competitive Trageser card game - “Good Night !”
Thank you so much Jamila. These are so sweet. They brought me to tears. And I hadn't heard any of them!
Kyle
When I was in high school, I loved looking over and seeing her in the stands at my baseball games. When we had games out her way, usually at Weston High, she would usually turn up, sometimes early enough that she was the lone fan sitting on the visitors' bleachers. Although sports were never much her thing, it felt good getting to share with her something that I enjoyed so much. The one sporting game that was very much her thing was croquet. It was funny to see how seriously she took her mallet skills even into her 90s.
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Dave
Grandma never liked to be the center of attention, anyone that knew her understood this. It's fitting, then, that so many of my favorite memories of Grandma and the impact she made on my life actually center around times where she brought our family together and the space she made for us to bond rather than something specific she said or did (although there's plenty of that as well). Holiday or birthday gatherings in Wayland where the cousins could play pickle outside in the yard. Basement productions directed and scripted by Claire & Kristy put on for the grownups. Board games & card games galore where suspiciously somebody else would win and we'd always find at least one chance to say "goodness, gracious, Grandma!" and burst into laughter. Grandma is in all of these childhood memories, and none of it would've happened without her (or at least not in the same way), but she was always right where she wanted to be: in the background, bringing us together but giving us all a safe & loving space to have fun and come together as a family. I have 2 stories, both involving the theater, where she moves to the fore.
The first is from a trip to England when we were very little, I think I was 8 years old. We traveled all over England for weeks on the trip of a lifetime, going to museums to soak in the history & culture of her favorite travel destination, staying in castles, and touring the countryside in a cramped rental car and playing games to pass the time, which included an all-time moment where Grandma displayed her wry sense of humor (if you know, you know). Towards the end of our trip, Grandma gave our parents a break and took Claire & I to see "The Starlight Express," a campy musical about trains where performers roller skated around the theater and sang songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber in costumes that looked like they were an unholy cross of "Transformers" and "Thomas the Tank Engine." I can't imagine this would've been her first choice for a theatrical experience in London, but she sat through it because I was squarely in the target demographic and it became such a trip highlight I almost forgot how awfully smoky all the restaurants were and the hit-or-miss quality of the food we ate.
Years later, I was a pouty teenager and somehow, some way ended up going to the theater again with Grandma to see an obscure Shakespeare play, "Love's Labours Lost." I remember being somewhat less than enthusiastic about the prospect of going to a play (no doubt I wanted to stay home and play computer games, or guitar, or just watch TV all day), but I ended up going and I remember actually having a great time. The play was quite witty, the performers were talented, and very quickly I went from counting down the minutes until it was over to being invested in the plot and enthusiastically discussing it with her during intermission & afterwards. No doubt she could have brought somebody else with her that day, but she chose so I would learn something and hopefully against all odds gain some appreciation for the art & culture she cherished.
These memories and so many others inspire me to keep learning and growing as a person, to share what inspires me with others, and remind me that you can make a positive impact on others without making yourself the main character in someone else's story. I feel so lucky to have had Grandma as a cornerstone of my life, a positive throughline that has touched so many people and cultivated a loving, caring, family of talented individuals that have flourished because of the example that she set & the energy she gave to all of us.
Claire
I have a very distinct memory of Grandma that dates back to when I was in Kindergarten. I was at aftercare, which I hated, and was sick, or maybe just pretending to be. This was before the time of cell phones, so the aftercare program couldn’t reach either of my parents, and so they called the next grownup on my list. My grandma. I very clearly remember seeing her walk through the door, with her gray curly hair in a poof around her head and a concerned look on her face.
She brought me home–my savior from dreaded aftercare. Just one of many many many times she’s been there for me.
I’m only realizing now that I have a child just how lucky I was to have my grandma there as a big part of my childhood. We would spend all of our holidays at her house in Wayland, where I would boss all my cousins around and make them perform in plays, and where we would play tag games and “Old Bear” upstairs or in the basement while the grownups hung out. We would have regular sleepovers at her house, hanging out in one of the big closets and playing Ouija Board. She was an exceptional Grandma–she had toys at her house ready for us to play with. She kept track of whose turn it was to ride in the back seat of her car, and would take us to Friendly’s for grilled cheese and clown sundaes. She had a package of Necco wafers in her car that she called “quiet medicine”--every kid would put one in his or her mouth and see who could hold it there the longest. Now that I’m a parent, I deeply appreciate this trick.
I remember her taking me on a special trip to Rockport, just the two of us. We went to a fancy lunch, walked along the beach, and she bought me new shoes. I basked in the special one on one attention from Grandma.
I’ve recently been rereading emails from Grandma that she sent after I graduated from college and was trying to figure out my life. We talked about books we were reading, she sometimes corrected my grammar, and she always told me to keep a diary, which sadly I didn’t do. She had a specific style:
“My pathetic mind is mired deep in church rummage this week. I shall fall asleep sorting bric-a-brac! No one likes the job as it is set up on the Sunday school porch. I don't mind. I wear silk underwear and breath less dusty air.”
Always she was so supportive–complimenting me on the stories I had written, sometimes just sending me random notes:
“Do you realize what a good writer you are? Just thought you would like to know!”
She and I are kindred spirits in that we don’t do well saying nice things in person, but love writing sweet notes.
As we all grew up, Grandma was there–she went to every single one of our college graduations. She went to weddings (rocking the same shirt at all of them, I believe). She got to meet four great grandchildren and delighted in all of them. I am so grateful that they got to have relationships with her, too–and hopefully will remember their very special “Great Nana” as they grow up.
I was able to be there the week she passed away, and her love and encouragement flowed out of her until the very end. When I got to see her, she kept telling me over and over how beautiful I was–which at my age is a rare compliment, so much appreciated. Her passing brought together many of her grandchildren, and we spent time together, talking about her and how special she was.
I don’t know how to encapsulate Grandma other than this: she was pretty much my favorite person, and I think that was true for all her grandkids. We will all miss her so so much.