That was beautiful and it sounds like your grandmother was an amazing woman.
My own maternal grandmother is 98 (turning 99 in April) and is starting to decline a bit which is frightening to us all -- so it felt extra poignant to me personally.
Yes, I was very lucky -- I got to know both my grandmothers and my grandfathers, few get that luxury. I think watching Coco sort of inspired my post. It's about a little boy's relationship with his great-grandmother.
The fact that she beaded caught my attention. Sounds like she did mostly needlework or loom beading? I also never had the patience for that. I remember I was given a basic loom set as a kid, perhaps as a result of our travels out west, but I couldn't get the hang of it. Later when a different friend introduced me to beading it was the stringing kind which seemed less complicated and easier to finish giving my irregular bursts of time.
I also thought about what you said re: hearing her voice in her head. I never knew any of my grandparents but obviously this is equally true of many people in one's life, and it made me think that we're unlikely to predict the things people remember about us, or the things we say that stick with them. A cautionary reminder perhaps.
She didn't really use a loom that I recall. Maybe for the medicine bags. It was mainly intricate needle work -- for a woman with sever arthritis in both hands she had fine motor coordination that blew my mind. Neither of her daughters who attempted it could replicate her work.
It is odd what we remember. I'm a visual person and don't tend to remember audio very well. But I hear her voice in my head and her folksy sayings. It's more a sense of her voice, the warmth in it and the love. She was a kind woman, who while far from perfect...seemed to leave others to their own devices with little to no judgement. She used to tell me -- "I don't care what the other guy does, just as long as he doesn't enforce it or impose it on me."
Vision too, I would think. I can still do small beads with my glasses but I know quite a few people use magnifying glasses for that type of detail work.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2018-03-05 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-06 01:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-05 01:31 pm (UTC)My own maternal grandmother is 98 (turning 99 in April) and is starting to decline a bit which is frightening to us all -- so it felt extra poignant to me personally.
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Date: 2018-03-06 01:08 am (UTC)But alas there is little I can do.
But, I'm grateful I had her as long as I did and I was able to know her as well as I did. Not everyone has that.
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Date: 2018-03-05 06:09 pm (UTC)And as someone who lost both her grandmothers before she was born... You were very lucky.
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Date: 2018-03-06 01:09 am (UTC)Yes, I was very lucky -- I got to know both my grandmothers and my grandfathers, few get that luxury. I think watching Coco sort of inspired my post. It's about a little boy's relationship with his great-grandmother.
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Date: 2018-03-05 09:02 pm (UTC)I also thought about what you said re: hearing her voice in her head. I never knew any of my grandparents but obviously this is equally true of many people in one's life, and it made me think that we're unlikely to predict the things people remember about us, or the things we say that stick with them. A cautionary reminder perhaps.
no subject
Date: 2018-03-06 01:06 am (UTC)It is odd what we remember. I'm a visual person and don't tend to remember audio very well. But I hear her voice in my head and her folksy sayings. It's more a sense of her voice, the warmth in it and the love. She was a kind woman, who while far from perfect...seemed to leave others to their own devices with little to no judgement. She used to tell me -- "I don't care what the other guy does, just as long as he doesn't enforce it or impose it on me."
no subject
Date: 2018-03-06 05:25 pm (UTC)A good perspective on life to be sure!