Tuesday, April 13, 2004
In Memoriam
My Grandma died today.
Aged 93 she has passed her final exam and gone to the land of no more exams.
I know she was a devout Christian, converted from the C of E largely through the witness of my dad and his sister as youngsters.
Her story is a fascinating one.
Born in England in 1911, she entered her teenage years in the 20s. She and her friend were avid dance fans and into the 30s used to go to dance halls and the cinemas regularly. Her friend was actually the pianist at the silent movies and grandma was an usher.
She met grandad and double dated him with her friend and her date to a dance. Only the two girls actually asked two boys each. Grandad was none too happy by all accounts, but obviously he impressed more than the other date because she chose him. They married and in 1940 my Dad was born in Brighton. Grandad was working as a mechanic in Hove, not far from Brighton. One day during the war a lone Stuka divebomber chased my grandmother with its machine guns up the main street of Hove while she was pushing Dad in his pram. Must have been an absolutely terrifying experience.
Whether for that reason or economic ones after the war, they emigrated to New Zealand in 1948 with Dad and his sister.
I lived with Grandad and Grandma for 1 1/2 years at the age of 18 while starting tertiary studies. Grandma used to do all sorts of funny things that I remember particularly well. Like Thursdays was the fishman day and so I would get home and find her deboning the fish that she had bought - for the cat. Wednesdays the butcher came and if I was early enough I would catch her feeding the choicest pieces to the cat. Humphrey was fed better than Grandad and I and to that the rest of the family can testify. He even had his own lounge chair.
Grandma was also an excellent moderator. She always looked to make the peace. Whether it was grandad and I locking horns over economic theory that I had brought home from tech or the grandkids arguing over who sat where. She was renowned for her sayings. "Keep looking up" is a favorite along with "whatever you do, do it well".
Recently written to us on the birth of our latest daughter on a card I will cherish is her name in the familiar scrunched up writing. She had battled with arthritis in her fingers for the last 30 odd years.
The funniest thing I remember about grandma was her "mistakes". These were cooking experiments that in her words were mistakes. We thought they were the yummiest things ever made.
I will miss my Grandma, but I know she has gone to be where she was destined to go long before the day she chose to accept the salvation offered to her.
