Debbie Button

Grandparents --- Remembering our Heritage

By Debbie Button

           

 Jarrettsville, Md. - Reflecting on Grandparents Day, which is held the first Sunday after Labor Day, brings back many memories of my grandparents and great-grandparents, as well as ideas for my own role as a grandparent.

My maternal great-grandmother, Grandma Tucker, was our family's spiritual compass and her relationship with the Lord was very real and inspiring.  In addition to admiring her spiritually, I wanted to try to be like her in the kitchen. She always had freshly baked bread and lemon meringue pies ready for us when we visited.   She prepared the most amazing glazed donuts in the oven --- I wish I had the recipe.  Mealtimes at her home were feasts which lasted almost all day.  It’s no wonder I love food so much and I love to bake.   I wish she would have left recipes behind but she baked from her heart.

We visited my Dad’s mother, who we called "Granny", almost every Sunday afternoon.  Whenever we arrived, her kitchen table would be prepared with place settings for each of the grandchildren.  We would get our own small bottle of Coke, a packaged cupcake and a quarter.  Sometimes, she even had a comic book for each of us.  This is how memories are made.  She showed us that she was expecting our arrival, and she sacrificed her very small income to make sure she had a treat for us. 

With Granny, we would all pile back into dad’s car and head to McDonald’s for lunch, and then to the drugstore to wander around and pick up the few things she would need for the week.   Once back at her apartment, one of us would walk Granny back through the courtyard to her door.  I loved this time alone with her, and on one of our "walks",  I learned that she liked to listen to the Beatles and enjoyed watching boxing on television.  These are definitely things I had never known, but I now remember them to this day. 

Granny was divorced from my grandfather when my dad was just in elementary school.  Since Granddaddy lived in another state, we never got to really know him.  We would visit him once a year, but he remained somewhat of a stranger.  Of course we loved him, but I wish I would have been old enough to remember the special things about him before he died.  All I really remember about him is that he was a railroad worker and he loved to grow vegetables. 

My older brother began calling our mother’s mom, “MeeMaw” and therefore that became her name until she asked us to begin calling her “Omah” in more recent years.  Evidently, grandmother in German and Pennsylvania Dutch is “oma”.   Omah passed away in 2007 at the age of 91, and I am so happy that I took the time to get to know her.  I’m sure there were still many things I didn’t know about her, and some of those things are still being discovered as my sister and I are packing up the contents of her home now.  It was so exciting to find a small box I had given her with “Omah” engraved on the lid. 

Omah's employment was as the food supervisor for the Maryland School for the Deaf, and therefore preparing and serving food was important to her.  I remember how she would instruct us on the proper way to slice meat or how to garnish a serving dish properly.   She truly had the art of hospitality.  Another inspiring trait of my grandmother was that I never heard her speak an unkind word about anyone.  And, once someone was her friend, they were her friend for life. 

My mom’s father, known as "PapPap", passed away when I was seven years old.  Again, I was too young to appreciate and remember much of who he was.  I know that he was a welder on the ships docked in Baltimore, Md.,  and that he was adored by my mother. 

Recently, I came across an article about “Glam-mas”.  Evidently there are women out there who are not excited to be grandmothers.  They are self-professed “glamorous, busy and consumed with living their own lives”.

In contrast, my personal experience has taught me that children grow up so fast that I want to savor every moment of their simple discovery of life.   I find that I can live my life, but be totally grateful that there is a little guy, my grandson, calling me "BoBo".  I have no idea where this name came from.  I had called myself "Grandma" until being re-named as BoBo.  And BoBo it is!  Recently, my now four-year old grandson approached me out of the blue and said, “Do you want to know why I call you BoBo?” and I became so excited to finally hear the story behind the name.  He blurted out, “It’s because I can’t say Grandma!”    Funny thing is, he said Grandma perfectly enunciated.

Remembering my own grandparents and the special place they have in my memory and in my heart, I began wondering what others call their own grandparents.  Well, here’s the list I came up with after surveying people I know --- in the number one spot is Grandma, followed closely by Mom Mom and Grandmom.  In no particular order, other names I gathered were Gran Grandmom, Munka, Nonnie, Nanny, MeeMaw, Grammy, Grams, MawMaw, Nana, Nonia, Nan, Nonie, Grandmother, Maam, and Babcza.  And in my informal survey, grandfathers are most frequently called Poppy these days.  Almost as frequent were Pop, Gramps, Grandpa, PopPop, and Grandad.

Don’t forget to spend time with this amazing older generation by asking questions about “the old days”.  Cherish every day before your opportunity is gone.

 

Photos: (from left to right) 

    Granny                 Omah         Grandma Tucker

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