May 28, 2007

• Monday Memories

  Since today is Memorial Day, I thought "Monday Memories" was apropos!

  The people I want to remember today are my parents, both sets of grandparents, and my "almost" aunt and uncle.

  I've talked about these people before; but, today I will memorialize each one of them.

  Dad:  He wasn't around much.  Yet, the biggest impression he made on me was to be generous and big hearted.  I remember him helping out many little old ladies, who were widowed, by doing handyman work and just doing kind deeds, in general, for people outside of our family.  My generous nature is directly due to him.

  Mom:  She, by far, was the one who had the best sense of humor.  I KNOW she has to be the source of my own sense of humor.  She could always find something to laugh about, even if it was the irony of a bad situation.  In many ways, my joking personality is an offshoot of my mother's.

  Maternal Grandma:  Grandma brought "class" into my life.  We discussed proper etiquette and "what I would do if I were ever invited to the White House for dinner" - so many times - it brings a smile to me now as I write about her.  She traveled extensively and had such wonderful stories to tell about her trips.  She loved to sit and watch people and "wonder" about them.  I do the same thing.  I'm quite content sitting at a mall or in an airport watching people and "wondering" about their lives.

  Maternal Grandpa:  My "businessman" Grandpa.  Despite starting out as a young stockboy in a grocery store, he became a board member of an IGA grocery subsidiary in St. Louis.  He obtained great wealth, but still stuck the skinny piece of soap on the new bar of soap (a habit I've retained) so as not to be wasteful.  He was always full of advice about success.

  Paternal Grandma:  The person to whom I was most close.  The one person I miss the most.  She rarely got angry and rarely got sick.  Such a positive attitude every day of her life.  She taught me (by her example) that caring for our family (AND extended family) was the most important thing we could give each other.  That included being there at a person's time of death - comforting the dying, comforting those remaining behind, and helping to settle the estates of the deceased.  When Grandma died, it was a privilege to be at her side.

  "Auntie" Irene:  So full of life.  She was a positive person, laughed at everything, always young in spirit, and, despite her health problems, always full of encouragement for others.  She sometimes appeared no-nonsense and not very sensitive or "soft," but I remember those winks meant only for me and the squeeze or pat she'd give my arm when she walked by me.

  Uncle "Eldie":  The smartest man I've ever known.  Overcame tremendous obstacles from childhood and could never really accept people doing nice things for him, but I always did them, anyway!  Another one who winked secretly at me and whispered words of encouragement in my ear when no one else could hear.

  There are friends who have touched my life and,  then, have passed on.  I have many fond memories of those friends, and I'm sure they would never dream I would still remember them after so many years. 

  Despite these friends, it's my family I wished to remember today.  Our family doesn't have graves to go visit (cremated instead of buried), which is a blessing.  It allows me to be able to visit them in my memories whenever I want.

   

   

   

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