Grandma raised me

G

Gift3d

New Member
I felt like I should post this, Growing up a lived with my Grandma for a long time, after my grandfather passed away my mom, brother and I moved in with her. couple years after my mom and brother moved away and I stayed with her.

I Love her to death :) I wouldn't be who I am today without that woman :)
 

One of my husband's nephews was raised by his grandmother - my husband's mother - when he was a teenager. She was in her 70s but had the heart, the room in her house and was able to take him in. They developed a deep bond. She passed away in 2006 and over this past Thanksgiving, he send a text to my husband to say that he still missed his Grandma, especially during the holidays.

We were able to live close to my parents and so, our children were able to frequently visit at least one set of Grandparents where they were young. I do think that family bond is important.
 

Unfortunately my paternal grandparents - the ones that lived down the street from me when I was a child - passed away before I was 9, so my memories of them are spotty. What I DO remember is my Italian grandfather ("Pop") smoking those horrible "Guinea Stinker" cigars - the De Nobilis -the smell of which would make me green in the gills but which he seemed to enjoy. Oddly enough, I've now lived for about 20 years a half-hour drive from where they've been made since 1896!

Grandma was a much more enigmatic figure - full Irish with a temper to match but also with a lot of love. She just always seemed to be a harder person to get to know, in contrast with Pop, who would take me into his room and show me all his war medals and the card tricks he knew (he was a "shill" at local carnivals!), and would give me part of his secret stash of candy ("Don't tell Grandma!"). Pop also grew tomatos in the back yard - real Italian.

He also used to take me into NYC's Little Italy where he hung out with "the boys", all of whom would pat my head and slip $5 bills in my shirt pocket. I thought they were just nice guys ... :cool:

They were, on the whole, happy memories, but I would have liked to have had more of them.

My maternal grandparents I barely knew, as they lived in Michegan and passed away when I was 6 or so. I had only the stories my Mom told me about them, and again I wish I could have known them much better.
 
I'm close to my paternal grandpa. I looked up to him as a kid, he was a gov't official who I'm proud to say, was not tainted with corruption. He attributes his success to his faithful, loving and supportive wife. I still keep the pen he gave me when I was in grade school with the inscription ~ Legal Secretary, Office of the President of the Philippines.

My maternal grandma I called Nanay, was a petite, frail looking woman. Yet, she was the family's source of strength. She bore 12 kids, mom is the 11th child. When she became senile, mom took her in to live with us. I was a kid then and she acted like a kid so we got along well. I'd tell her secrets she wouldn't tell mom and we'd wink at each other often.
 
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