Grandma Gertrude was 60 years of age when she first became a grandmother, and she would be a grandmother to just one set of grands. She would have to wait for her fifth of six children to grant her wish.
On each of our birthdays, Grandma would call us to her room and give us pieces of money according to our age. If you were five, you would get five different pieces of money and so on. Her gift was mostly coins but we all looked forward to her counting the pieces of money into our small hands.
Grandma had her first heart attack when she was about 65 years of age, shortly after the death of my grandfather. She left her rural home and moved to the big city, living next door to a daughter Alice, and another daughter Rosie lived on the same street. Grandma lived in a small shotgun apartment with her oldest son Uncle Jr., and my father would leave my mother and three children to live with Grandma while he pursued other interests.
Although grandma was sickly, she often encouraged her grandchildren and would admonish our father to do the right thing. She died at age of 72 years after another heart attack and strokes.
I am two nickles of age and not a grandmother. A recently married daughter has ensured me that I will beat my grandmother's record but it will be real close, and I hope to continue the tradition of counting money into their birthday hands.
1 comment:
Great story, counting coins, grandmother's are so sweet. Great photo too! Enjoyed this post so much!
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