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A Brief Memory of 91 Years of a Wonderful Life.Jul 14 '08 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line My Grandmother was my best friend my whole life. I am going to miss her.
As some of you may or may not know, I lost my Grandmother last week. As a matter of fact we buried her on the Hubby's and my 16th Wedding Anniversary. Let me tell you that was a bit difficult. I have been very fortunate even at my age to still have all of my Grandparents with me until the last 10 years or so. Even Great-Grandparents when I was married to my first husband. First off, how do you even start to describe 91 years of life in a single essay? Trust me this in going to be abbreviated to the best of my ability. It is terribly hard to lose someone you love unconditionally even at 91. Some of my first memories of my Grandmother are running away from home and going to Grandma's. Fortunately my Grandparents lived on West 26th Street in Erie and my parents and I lived on Willis Street. We basically lived on different corners of the same block and I could run away from home only by crossing back yards, never a road. I am sure that Grandma called my mom so she knew where I was, but it was always a great place to run away. The more I think back on any of this, is that my Grandma then, was my age now, I still can't believe that I am a Grandma, she probably couldn't either at that point. But just like me, she never let it be known. You just love your grandkids no matter what. Grandma was born in 1917, and actually knew my Grandfather in 1st grade, she still had the Valentine he gave her that year! They were married 70 years ago this past fall, and he always joked around that he had married an older woman. She was born on March 10th, he on the 13th, an older woman by 3 days! I may have been a bit spoiled since I was the first grandchild. Grandma and Grandpa had three girls, my mom first, then my two aunts. I know when my parents got married my youngest aunt was still in high school; I do believe she used to baby-sit me quite often. I also actually remember riding in the car that Grandpa taught my Aunt Shirley to drive in, a 1955 Chevy Belair. A red and white convertible, and you car guys wonder where I get my love of cars. It was totally bred into me. My Grandmother also had a Fiat at one time and I had never seen a car where the heater was in a hose that ran across beneath the dash! My parents are actually the only couple out of the girls that have stayed together. But my Grandmother never had a problem with Step-Grandchildren or Great-Step Grandchildren; they always were always treated exactly the same way. She had 9 Grandchildren, 19 Great-Grandchildren and 4 Great-Great Grandchildren. As a matter of fact when her obituary came out in the paper some people were trying to figure out where her 4th Great-Great Grandchild came into the picture. That would be my step-son's daughter. She never forgot any of them, even if they did not live anywhere near her. Once the Greats started rolling in she did ask to be called Omi and my grandfather Opa, just to keep them a bit separate from all the other grandparents. Let's go back in her life just a bit, I mentioned the house on 26th Street. I loved that big brick house, even though I always got the scary room to sleep in, the one with the door and stairs to the attic. Trust me little minds can make up horrendous stories about an attic. But I also remembering sitting in the kitchen in the morning, they had a diner type table in the kitchen with a wrap around booth, and having Grandma's wonderful French toast. She always wore one of those big frilly aprons! There was also a piano on the enclosed front porch were I leaned basic two finger songs. Outside she had a wonderful rose garden near the circular driveway, I got to deadhead her roses for her, very carefully. Picking up apples and chestnuts were a normal weekend activity in the fall. This house actually belonged to my Grandmother's parents, but she and my Grandfather lived there also. When her parent's passed away, she and Grandpa ended up with the house. Even after my parents, brother and I moved from the neighborhood, I still got to spend a week every summer with my Grandparents. We visited the Erie Zoo (my Grandparents had always gotten a zoo membership), Waldemeer and the Peninsula. Breakfast on the Peninsula has been a family thing for many years. We still got together at least once a month for family dinners; while many were at my grandparent's house another family favorite was Barnacle Bills, a restaurant long gone at this point. But I do have pleasant memories of the Seafood Cocktail and Shrimp there not to mention being taught table manners! She taught me to knit, one of her great passions, and how to do cross-stitch using the printed panels. As a matter of fact last year she gave me her cross-stitch quilt out of her lavender guest bedroom. Then Grandpa's job at Zurn Industries took them far from home and they sold that house. My Grandparents lived in California, Florida and Hawaii because of my Grandfather's work. This is when I started writing to Grandma instead of doing my homework as I should have been doing. And you know what, she paid attention to every letter I ever wrote to her. Teen girls sometimes do not get along with their moms, and I would mail Grandma letters with my thoughts and concerns about any topic. I knew one always got to Grandma when she would call my mom and say what the heck or you doing here? I got my necklace of Puca shells when they were in Hawaii for a time. I still have it and got it out yesterday while reminiscing with the Hubby. I did actually wear these to her funeral. This is just the one of many gifts my wonderful Grandmother gave to me that I still have. They were on the move again. Just before my senior year of high school they were living near Los Angeles. My family and I spent several weeks driving to California and back pulling our travel trailer. We spent quite a bit of time with Grandma and Grandpa while we were there. Disney, farmers markets, Tijuana and orange groves were just a few of the things we got to see while visiting. They lived in an apartment for a while between travels, but the next house I remember was on Suburban Lane in Erie. Very modern, but about the only thing I remember from that house was my youngest brother getting knee-burn on the carpet in the living room (he was crawling), the really cool stove they had with the pull-out range top and actually trying coffee for the first time. While they were living in Florida I married my first husband, and had opportunity to stay in their Air Stream camper, set up in a trailer park and visit all the places the X and I wanted to see free of a hotel charge for our entire honeymoon. My Grandparents were great travelers and actually visited all of the lower 48 states in whatever camper they had at the time. As a matter of fact during her Eulogy the pastor mentioned that my Grandparents have must have gotten along really well to do all that traveling with only each other for company. When they finally moved "home" permanently my Uncle Biff was a contractor and he helped build their last house on Ponderosa Drive. Believe it or not the two of them still lived in this house. Well I guess Grandpa is still there for the present time. But let me tell you it was the most modern house on the block for the time period. Cedar shingles on the exterior, lots of glass, including stained glass windows that my Grandfather designed and built for each side of their front door. Different windows for different seasons. My Grandmother had only been ill for several months, my Grandfather has been in poor health for years and she took care of him. When she had a massive stoke, she informed everyone just to leave her at home in her own bed before she fell into a coma. She had no desire to go to the hospital. Luckily she had a Living Will and other than keeping her comfortable, her hospital ordeal lasted less than a week. I could not possibly see my very active Grandmother hooked to a bunch of machines to keep her alive. That is one reason why I decided no to go to the hospital. She would have hated that. Even though we all hated to see her go, at least she didn't suffer and was gone fairly quickly. The flowers at her funeral were gorgeous, all of her favorite roses in so many colors! I still have some in a vase on the island in my kitchen that still look and smell wonderful! I also pressed the flowers from the Gerber Daisy bouquet given by my Grandchildren so they will all have a flower to put in their scrapbooks. During the last calling hours my Grandfather said that he did not realize that he was married to such a beautiful woman. Not only was my Grandmother beautiful on the outside, she was beautiful on the inside. The love she showed to her extended family was precious and unselfish; I am truly going to miss her. Harriet Willis Wittenburg: March 10, 1917 to July 7, 2008. Love you Omi!!  |
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