Well, this post has not even a whit about walking, or nature, but once a year I do honor this Hallmark-type holiday known as “National Grandparents Day” in spirit only, since my last grandparent passed away in 1986. That would be my grandmother, Wilhemina Godard. No one ever called her “Wilhemina” – she was “Minnie” to all who knew her and “Nanny” to me. I’ve written many fond memories about my grandmother and told about the traits we shared: we both were fond of squirrels, gardening and neither of us could cook or bake. Oh – minor correction … my grandmother made a mean pot roast every Sunday and that’s likely beyond my expertise, (unless I try to experiment cooking one in my new crockpot).
You’ll never see warm-and-fuzzy memories about my grandfather in this forum, as he was an old coot and I hated him. Though I’d never had a temper tantrum or “sassed back” to my parents, he was the only person who truly set me off so much that I bit him. Yes, that’s right, the ever-polite Linda Susan Schaub bit her grandfather on the ankle after he criticized the pronunciation of words learned in French class in Grade One. You see, he was born in St. Jerome, Quebec, and, though he had moved to Toronto many years before, never spoke to my grandmother in his native tongue, (nor anyone else for that matter), he considered himself an expert in speaking French. Admittedly, Quebec French and the French we studied in class was different in the way the vowels are pronounced … but, for goodness sake, I was in the first grade, so cut me a little slack!
On that particular day, he was sitting at the kitchen table smoking his pipe and waiting on dinner and asked me “so what subjects are you learning in school these days?” I rattled off some of my classes, among them French, which was a mandatory class in Canada. So he challenged me to say something to him in French and when I responded, he said the teacher was stupid and I was too, as THAT was not French. I was never permitted pouting, outbursts or temper tantrums as a child, so I just took his words, digested them and without batting an eye, as he continued his verbal assaults, I simply slid out of my chair, onto the floor and bit him on the ankle (yes, like I was the family dog who was denied a few tasty table scraps). Then I climbed back onto my chair just as he let out a yelp and cried out “you little bugger – you bit me!” (Really? As if I didn’t know and no, I didn’t draw blood.)
Nanny was tending to the pot roast and quickly wheeled around to see his red face and irate demeanor and me calmly sitting there. In between poking at the carrots and potatoes she asked “Linda, did you bite Omer?” “Yes Nanny – he laughed at me and said I didn’t know how to speak French and I was stupid – so I bit him.” Her response was “okay then, run and tell Mommy and Daddy dinner’s ready.” This story was relayed to me many times through the years.
Omer was a bully and a brute. From the moment I could form words and sentences I was told to call him “Omer” – yes, this irascible man never earned the moniker of “Grandpa” or “Gramps” or “Granddad” … but no big deal, as I adored Nanny and she more than made up for his boorish behavior.
Pictures speak louder than words.
In going through my online photo albums to find some pictures for this post, I came across these two images taken the first year of my life. It is common knowledge that animals have a sixth sense about people and deciding whether they like them or not. Evidently I had that same sixth sense about Omer.
I laughed when I compared these two pictures. The first, likely one of the earliest pictures of Nanny and me; I was all smiles, with my meager amount of hair swirled into a jaunty curlecue. The second picture is a rather sullen me on Omer’s knee, sporting a curlecue just as flat as the expression on my face.
This photo was taken at a cabin where we stayed one night when my father drove my grandparents to Cleveland. Nanny had expressed a desire to see a shrine in Cleveland and my grandparents didn’t have a car, nor did they drive, so we took a weekend trip. Taking a closer look at my face reveals a wrinkled-up nose, most likely from the big, fat cigar resting between Omer’s fingers. Once again, there was no happy-go-lucky grandfather here and my grandmother, on the other side of the shot, looked like she just tolerated being there. Mom wore a blasé look with a wan smile and there I was, clutching my favorite doll “Tilda Jane” and hating the cloud of cigar smoke that wafted into my face. My father, took the photo and, as usual, managed to take a picture of the cabin wall and sliced off part of Mom’s head and Nanny’s arm.
The header image, which I would be wont to entitle “Grumps, not Gramps” was the last picture of my grandparents, taken in the late 60s, shortly before he died in April 1969 – I hated him even more, as he died just days before my birthday where I was turning into a teenager and he messed up my big day – at 13 years old, birthdays were big stuff … now not so much.
Good things come in small packages.
It is hard to remember a time when I was shorter than my grandmother. I was a tall child, and grew to 5 feet 9 inches (175.26 cm) tall once I reached my teens. I towered over Mom and Dad, who were 6 and 7 inches shorter than me respectively. I grew like a weed and my grandmother seemed to shrink each time I saw her.
This photo was taken in 1983 of the two of us in Nanny’s backyard.
As I flipped through the old photos, they evoked many good memories. It turns out I finally found one picture where I was not the one towering over Nanny, though even when I knelt, I came close to her chest as you see below. She was posing in front of her prized Hollyhocks.
Happy Grandparents Day to those to whom it applies. I know it is especially tough this year as visits and well wishes may only be done by phone or Zoom or FaceTime. Hang in there – hopefully brighter days are ahead.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
What A fantastic post and so full of great memories and pictures!
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Thanks Michael – I have such a treasure trove of old pictures, that they can be used for many more years for my blog posts. It was easy to go in and wander around in the online album and sometimes I laugh at these vintage pictures, as well as savor the memories… glad you liked the post.
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I laughed that you didn’t like your crabby grandfather. Your honesty is refreshing. Were you the only grandchild?
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I am glad you liked this post Anne. I could have been polite and referred to him as an “old crab apple” but I was honest as you say. He was not the type of grandfather that you’d try to climb up on his knee. I may have sat on his knee in this picture, but I saw no other pictures where I did that. After we moved to the suburbs from Toronto, where my grandparents lived, we used to visit almost every Sunday when I was growing up. I remember he wanted to go the corner store for pipe tobacco and my grandmother said “take Linda with her and buy her an ice cream cone” – he waved his hand to dismiss that thought, then begrudgingly said “you can come along if you want.” My grandmother admonished him by a look and by saying “hold onto her hand” and he took my hand and as soon as he shut the door, he turned it loose. That’s how he was. My mother and her brother were estranged for decades. He borrowed money from my grandmother and refused to pay it back – my grandfather found out and was mad and hollered at my grandmother. My mother contacted him and said to pay her back and he told her it was none of her business. Thus the estrangement. He had three kids: a girl my age and two boys, slightly younger. I only saw my cousins at my grandfather’s funeral in 1969 and the funeral home. I saw my uncle/his wife at my grandmother’s 80th birthday party in 1985 – my aunt invited him to be there the same time as we were visiting, thinking it would make my grandmother happy. It was a very stilted event – he only came for dinner and the cake, then left. Two months later, my grandmother died so I saw him/his wife (only – again, not my cousins) at that time. I don’t count him as my family – I am sure I would not know any of them if they walked down the street. When I worked at the diner, my manager was like a grandfather to me – I told him many times I thought of him like that, more than a boss.
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I’m glad you had a good grandfather figure in your life. Back then, most grandparents didn’t do much with their grandchildren. We saw ours for Sunday dinner for a number of years, but they didn’t take us anywhere. My parents never went out, so they didn’t even baby sit! That is such a contrast to all the things we did with David and Nathaniel. I’m happy we had so much time with them.
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Yes, I see how much fun you have had with David and Nathaniel when they were young, but now especially. That warms my heart. My parents never went out either, so I never had a babysitter and I never spent the night at my grandparents either. We went Sundays to visit – my mom was close to her mother and for dinner. They didn’t drive so were rarely at our house after we moved to the suburbs when I was two.
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A delightful post with great memories. I love your Grandmother’s response to you biting your grandfather. Is that a puppy you are holding in the last picture?
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Glad you liked this post Ruth … I like to tell it like it is, no sugarcoating. 🙂 My grandmother was feisty and most of the time, she would let what he said go in one ear and out the other. He was 9 or 10 years older than she was, not a nice man at all and his words were always rude and cruel. So, that was her matter-of-fact statement. I remember biting him and I heard the story many more times after that day – believe me, I got a spanking when I got home for biting him on the ankle. My mother always said “well, we taught you not to sass back but never thought to tell you not to bite someone!” Yes, it is a puppy – it’s hard to tell as it was squirming. My aunt Frances lived upstairs in my grandmother’s house. It was her dog and she only had it a day, a birthday gift from a friend, when we went over to visit for a long weekend. It was a poodle mix and she named it “Muffin” and that dog’s feet never touched the ground the entire weekend – someone was always picking him up and cuddling him.
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The really good news is that you didn’t grow up with Omar as your father in the same house. I remember having two childhood friends who had “grumpy” fathers. I was afraid of them and whenever we played at their house we tried to stay out of their sight because anything we did annoyed them.
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Yes, you’re right about that Kate – growing up I only saw him most Sundays when we drove to Toronto to visit and for Sunday dinner. He had no personality and thus no warm-and-fuzzy memories that I can recall. My father was from Germany and his parents died when he was young, so I never knew that set of grandparents at all.
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I loved reading this post! So funny, you biting your mean old grandfather’s ankle and how your father had such trouble taking a centered photograph, I was laughing out loud. 🙂 We’re a bunch of short people but my daughter’s best friend in college was 5’9″ and towering over us whenever posing for pictures. The pictures of you and your Nanny are priceless. She looks like she adored you!
My paternal grandfather was mean, too. He was from the old country, Ukraine, and had no use for girls, including my sister and me. He lived with us until he died when I was in third grade. He spent his days gardening and cutting the brush in the woods around our house. If we disturbed his piles of wood he would wave his axe menacingly and shout at us in Ukrainian. No fond memories there.
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Thanks Barbara! Despite no warm-and-fuzzy memories of my grandfather, I had good vibes from my grandmother, so it was sure fun writing this post. This was one of those stories that got retold over the years because it was out of character for me. My parents were 30 when they had me and I was raised in a no-nonsense way. I would never dream of “sassing back” and really toed the line. I had no siblings to pave the way for me. I did get a spanking that night for biting him on the ankle.
All the pictures my father took through the years were always off-center and I once thought of writing a post and using a series of these misfit photos, where people’s arms or heads were missing, but the whole car or the driveway was in the frame; in this case, the whole side of the building was there, but the people in the picture are all shifted over to the left. My grandmother and I were close so I’ve written about her many times in the past. I never met my paternal grandparents who lived in Germany. They died when my father was young. You are in the same boat as me – I know people, many of them fellow bloggers, who sing the praises of their grandfathers and recall fond memories when they were young – our grandfathers failed us sadly. But we still survived, despite it all. I understand my great-grandfather was the same miserable way. He was a rural farmer who sired 9 children and when his wife got her foot stomped on by the buggy horse, he told her “you’re not much use to me now Catherine.” What a charmer!
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So sorry you wound up with a spanking! I love how little kids reason things out. You weren’t allowed to sass back so you tried some other means of revenge. 🙂 One of my sons had the cutest chubby little cheeks and everyone would squeeze them, much to his annoyance. One day he turned around and reached up to my friend’s face and squeezed both her cheeks. She was taken aback, but then said, “well, I guess I deserved that!”
Fortunately for me, though, my maternal grandparents were wonderful and so loving and fun. (My paternal grandmother died before I was born, but I was told she also suffered abuse because of my grandfather’s misogyny.) I spent much of my childhood wondering how and why my grandfathers could be so very different!
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Yes, it is logical isn’t it Barbara? Kudos to your son getting back for the chubby cheeks squeeze – I would have liked to see your friend’s face when he reached up and squeezed her cheeks.
When I was young, my best friend friend lived next door and her name was also Linda. She was smaller than me, but a bully. She was fine to play with until she wanted something, like my bike, or a toy – she would grab it and go, or start to pick a fight. My parents would be on the porch or at the window watching us play in the yard and I went into the house one day and my parents said they’d give me a dime for every time I beat up Linda Crosby because I had to stand up for myself and the time was now. The next time she picked a fight, I not only stood up to her, but punched her and ran across the yard yelling at the top of my voice “I beat up Linda Crosby – can I have my dime now?” My parents were horrified and I got the lecture on what was said in the house did not go out of the house. 🙂
I had friends with wonderful grandparents and I always felt cheated – to go through your childhood with no warm-and-fuzzy memories of your grandfather, someone most people idolized at an early age, is sad indeed.
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Hi Linda / I had an uncle who was like the humor grandad you mentioned – and there sure were some bitter folks that came out of the turn of the century – I guess each generation has their own flaws – but a coldness did seem to strike some born late 1800s early 1900s
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And are you wearing Jordache jeans in the photo with you standing (towering) with grandmother?
The “bite” story was priceless
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Hi Yvette – yes, I guess people back then had a much harder life and I should not be disparaging him, but he surely didn’t kill me with kindness and his mannerisms left a lot to be desired. Glad you liked the “bite” story – I had a strict upbringing and got away with nothing, especially since I had no siblings. So, I don’t know what possessed me to do this. I got a stern lecture on the ride home and a spanking when I got home.
Yes, I was wearing Jordache jeans in that picture – I loved that style of jeans which had just the right stretch and so comfy. Jordache with that flying horse head logo and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans with the swan logo were my jeans of choice for years. 🙂
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Oh yeah – those jeans were very popular and for good reason! Also – they likely had your length. My step daughter is 6’3″ and about ten years ago her favorite jeans were “lucky brand”
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I’ve never tried “Lucky Brand” but you are right Yvette – the fit was great for both Jordache and GV in that stretch denim. I was tall (5′ 9″) but not as tall as your step daughter … that is really tall. I had trouble finding pants that were long enough and used to make all my pants until finally there were better proportioned pants and trouser-style pants seemed to run longer. I always wore higher heels and so needed longer pants than just for my inseam. In later years, I went to flats for all my pants … but you couldn’t tell me anything years ago … I had to have espadrilles or sandals or shoes that had high wedge heels with jeans. 🙂
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Oh how fun is that, Linda- sounds like you had some nice style!
and flats have their place too – ha
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Yes, I went through a period where I’d would not wear flats. I was never into those Buffalo sandals or the backless slides or clogs. I’d probably wipe out on any of those but I didn’t care for those styles. But I liked being taller than everyone else. I could eventually buy trouser-style pants suits and the sleeves in the jackets were long enough that they didn’t look like they belonged to my little sister and the pants were fine with flats … what a revolution for me!
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Oh how cool about the revolution – and it can be so hard to find jeans for the “popular” sizes and so even tougher for tall folks.
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My step daughter knows how to stand in certain ways so she does not “tower” over us – her choice because we don’t care if she does – but I thought how clever of her to have that posture to use –
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Yes very clever and thoughtful of your daughter – I have photos of me standing with my parents that look like I belong to another family!
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🙂
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First of all Linda, look at how beautiful you are! It sounds like your grandma is the type of grandma everyone wants! Now your grandpa….not so much! Lol
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Well thank you Diane – as a baby I had no hair and my mother would fashion those few strands into a curlecue. 🙂 As to the grown-up Linda, that was in the early 80s with those pictures. I always had long hair and cut it off and immediately regretted it and started to grow it back. Yes, my grandmother was really special and I have many fond memories of her and lots of pictures too. My grandfather – nothing special there. LOL!
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I agree Linda….you were a very pretty girl! And your hair always looks reddish in your younger pics!
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Thank you Joni – I don’t know why my hair always looks reddish in these older photos as it was really a dirty blonde, so I have to believe it was the camera, or, most likely where I had them developed. All these photos of me when I was older were taken with the Kodak Instamatic Pocket Camera . I cut my hair for the first time and instantly regretted it and started growing it back – I always had long hair and still do.
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Awesome post Linda. It was like travel in time when reading your memories and looking at your old photos. I never met my grandparents. When being child I even did know that many have them. I do not have any siblings, so I am used to live with myself. This does not mean that I did not have any friends.
My memories concerning my late father are warm. Best memories are from the time when I sat in his work room. He was shoemaker and I admired his ability to repair shoes and even make new (special) shoes for those in need. My memories concerning my late mother are contradictory. Before she remarried, I remember her as a loving mother, but then she changed slowly. Later she did not even appreciate the decoration granted by our president suggested by my employer. However, everything was forgiven on her deathbed.
Back to my late father. He lived as a hermit in a small Sauna cottage for about twenty years. Our home was lit by lightning and my father repaired our small Sauna building making it his home. Life took me to Helsinki when I was young. I often visited him, even though the trip was 193 miles one way. I offered to my father trip to New York and Amsterdam. Visiting to the cockpit of DC-8, was highlight, which he remembered all his life. The crew was very friendly, because they took us to the crew bus. My mother moved to Helsinki with her new husband quite soon after my movement. We met regularly, but our visits with my wife were not cordial.
I have four photos showing me in my About me.
Life continues…
Matti
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Hi Matti – I scrolled through many pictures and am going to continue to look at the rest of them. You have traveled many places. I traveled too and by myself with tour groups in the 70s and early 80s. I want to look at some of your pictures of Rome, I saw the Pope and the ancient structures in Rome, on your birthday in Paris … I will return to see more of your travels. I liked all the snow pictures – very pretty with all the twinkling snow outside your home and interesting as to the museums you have visited. I will definitely come back to take a closer look. Travel is a wonderful thing – it is like education … something that can never be taken away from you. You were using a computer in 1970 and I never used on until the mid-90s and did not have my own home computer until after Y2K.
Your wife is very talented with the bags (I’m assuming she folds them up to create the tote bags) and the jewelry.
The airlines are cutting many jobs as a result of the pandemic as you probably have read – I’m sorry you lost your job at Pan Am – I remember they were once a very viable airline – so many mergers have reduced the amount of airlines flying the friendly skies these days. I’ve not traveled in a long time and don’t have a passport so I cannot even cross the border to my homeland of Canada. Right now our border of Canada/U.S. has been closed since the pandemic began. This is smart because Canada has many fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than here in the U.S.
I was an only child too and my parents were older when they had me – 30 years old then was considered “old” but no longer the case.
You have a good day Matti. – Linda
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Thank you Linda.
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You’re welcome Matti – I will return to see the rest of them. Thank you again for the link.
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Wonderful post Linda, I love all the photos. And the backgrounds, the wallpaper and the furniture that is covered. We had all that also. Grandma’s always seemed to shrink, my grandma was a little taller, but she always wore the same types of dress as yours did. And the nightgown with a robe, we have lots of pictures of that. 🙂
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Since I didn’t know my father’s parents (they died when he was young), I guess I assumed all grandmothers from around that era were the same. They are not like modern grandmas, that is for sure. My friend/neighbor Marge was grandmother to nine kids and two great-grandkids. She never looked nor acted like a “grandmother” – until she got so ill the last three years, she was always on the go, very technology oriented. My grandmother had the coverings on all the chairs in the living room – my Aunt’s first dog (not the one pictured in my arms in this post) was not allowed to go on the furniture … she had an area rug in the living room and he was allowed to walk on the wooden floor in the living room to get from the kitchen to the front door and/or to go upstairs. He was a smart dog – he was told “no” and that the living room was out of his territory and he never strayed there. By the time she got the new dog, my grandmother had loosened up a little and he was allowed to go anywhere. 🙂 I think I have the robe pictures too.
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Miss Linda………………………………..I’m still smiling on your story about your “Grumps”……………….you are a good story teller and I will treasure your sharing of your fond memories of your grandmother ………………..actually our neighbors across the hall who came from Saudi Arabia……………………..have 3 small children and they call me “Grandma”.
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Ann Marie – I was very close to my grandmother, especially while we lived in Canada, but after moving to the States in 1966, we only went back to visit about four times a year. After my grandfather died in 1969, my grandmother would travel over by bus every Summer and spend a month here. I enjoyed that. I have a lot of photos of my grandmother, even one in my cap and gown from when I graduated from WSU. I will put that in a post one day. That is an honor that those kids call you “Grandma” – for you, once a teacher, always a teacher and I know you were teaching English to some other youngsters in your building at one time. You are very patient and kind.
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That was priceless…..I really enjoyed reading that Linda. Your grandma looked like mine, only she almost always wore an apron. I think all grandmas wore house dresses back then.
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Glad you enjoyed this post Joni. I tell it like it is/was!! My grandmother had a dressmaker that lived in the neighborhood. In those days, she could not find clothes that fit properly, so she went to Mrs. Crooks. All her dresses, for good (church) and just the house dresses, were the same pattern.
The last 15 or so years of her life, we used to buy her dresses bought from Lane Bryant (plus-size store) like the purple dress in the photo where I’m bending down. Funny you mention the apron … my grandma ALWAYS wore an apron, as did my mom. They both did it to not only protect their clothing, but they were both short and both top heavy, so leaning over the stove might be perilous and messy. My mother always suggested she take off the apron for the picture.
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PS. Help! I’m struggling with how to provide a link to a previous blog in the block editor??? I can do it in classic, but the paragraph I want to put the link in, was typed in block and I don’t see any tools to allow me to insert a link?
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Joni – I was pretty sure it was the exact same as in the Classic Editor, but, it’s been 17 months since I switched to the Block Editor so I looked around to see … it seems the same to me, but here is the instructions with diagrams (which I like when it is something new) … see if that works and they tell how to do the Block Editor first then the Classic Editor and the info was just updated in May 2020:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-on-how-to-add-a-link-in-wordpress/
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I know how to insert a link in the classic toolbar but I don’t see the insert link symbol on the BLOCK toolbar…..at least it’s not on mine…..I think that is my problem….the toolbars in general. Oh well, I’m tired tonight so I’ll deal with it another day. Thanks Linda for your help. I will check out the beginners guide site.
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I have to go to look at the beginner’s guide if I hit a snag – I tried Googling or going to YouTube when I started and it was complicated in my opinion. So I resorted to the beginner’s guide.
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Okay…..I found the link button now in Block….I didn’t realize you had to start typing to get the toolbar to come up again.
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I’m glad it worked Joni – it was you who told me how to get it to work in Classic, because up until that time, I just put it right into the blog post as I was not sure. The toolbars that disappear and reappear and sometimes are right in the middle of the text when you’re proofreading are annoying to me. Also annoying is that the most frequently used items (photos, paragraph and heading) do not appear at the top as they used too – they are embedded with everything else so you must search for them all the time.
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I think you can move the toolbar to the top permanently, which I did when I was experimenting the first day, (there was an option in settings which is now gone?) but I would prefer to have it popping up as now I can’t find the toolbar. I must contact the H.E.’s some night. In Block my paragraph and images are still at the top. What do you need paragraph for? After I’ve inserted a photo, I just start a new block?
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I write my posts in Word and then transfer them to WordPress. Well, first to Notepad or else the justification doesn’t work properly (per the H.E.s). I put “markers” in my text where I want the pictures and the headlines. So sometimes I add another paragraph and for each headline I make, I have to choose “heading” as it is in the middle of the text. Then I add all the photos at the end after I have the text and the headings done. It is a laborious process to be honest, but I don’t draft right in WordPress. I don’t even draft in WordPress for Wordless Wednesday, just use my template and copy and paste it over. I wondered if you could group all the frequently used items in one place as I’ll never use the other ones they have available.
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It does sound laborious. I sometimes draft in Word but only a rough draft of the writing then add the photos in WP…..but now, I don’t even know if that is doable. Weather’s too nice to worry about this week…
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Well that is what I do and have been doing since Day #1 since I’ve saved all the posts and photos on flash drives (although I say that … I am a year behind in getting them off the computer and onto a flash drive). But for many years, even before the Block Editor, I drafted in Word, cut-and-pasted it over at WP … one day the formatting was off and no justification. So, I asked the H.E. what happened and they had made some tweaks and he said I had to put it to Notepad, then transfer it to WP. And, when you transfer it to Notepad, it compacts it with no paragraph separation, so I have to go thru and adjust it by an additional hard return. Yes, the weather is nice – take advantage of it for sure.
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Re – “So sometimes I add another paragraph and for each headline I make, I have to choose “heading” as it is in the middle of the text”??? Linda – why wouldn’t you just add another block for the additional paragraph? I’m not sure what a headline or a heading even is??
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If you look on my actual blog site, as opposed to Reader, you can adjust the size of headlines, if you are using headlines to separate parts of the blog post. You can make the headlines in different sizes – I use H3 size so it is not overly large (the same size as the title of the blog) and I do bold and underline. In Reader, the underlined heading does not show up, neither does justification – so any enhancement that you make is not going to show up in Reader. I’m guessing because it takes up room on WP server, as opposed to what enhancements you make to your text on your own posts on your own blog site. Also, if you use a colored font or put a colored box behind your text, it shows up on your blog, but not in Reader. Reader is kind of “bare bones” – if you look at this post on my site you can see the justification and headings: https://lindaschaubblog.net/2020/09/15/a-bit-of-a-debacle/
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Thanks for explaining that Linda. I guess I have never used headings or headlines, except the title one!
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You’re welcome Joni and I did a couple of the colored fonts and color blocks when I first used the Block Editor, but since it doesn’t show up in Reader and also, what I didn’t mention, justification or color amenities don’t appear in what subscribers get either. So, I eliminate those extra steps.
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So funny that you BIT your grandfather!!! 🙂 He probably deserved it! 😉
My mother was a French teacher (she taught English and Latin too). She could not understand “Canadian” French.
I hope our grandchildren have better memories of us than you did of your grandfather!
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I know everyone wondered what possessed me Laurie as I was not a precocious child in the least! Omer was a miserable old man and yes he deserved it! Well that is funny about your mom not understanding “Canadian” French. We would have learned Parisienne French as he could not understand it and he spoke French to me and it made no sense. That is what I learned throughout college as well. I am sure your grandchildren will have wonderful memories of you and Bill, just from reading what you do with them, especially the nature trips to the park and making peanut butter pine cones for the birds, taking them to feed the ducks at the pond – you are fostering in them a love for nature at an early age and Atti sure knows that a 4,000 mile roundtrip for his birthday is only because he is special and you missed him terribly. 🙂
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well….weren’t you the little snake………slithering off of your chair and biting your Grandfather! I bet your Grandmother chuckled to herself about that one!
Your right about the French. I’m half Quebecois (mothers side). They taught Parisian French in school but in Quebec they spoke a variation there of,Quebecois. Plus the French living outside of Quebec spoke French Canadian. Further east in the Maritimes they spoke Acadian French. In the southern States they spoke Cajun French.
The only language around that has been splintered so much!
When the English told the French they’d have to fight for the Queen,many said screw you and left! They were the seeds for the Cajun French.
Shoving French down our throats when we didn’t want to learn it was such a huge waste of time and money! I remember only a few words and most of those I learned from the French CDN women I dated!
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Ha ha – yes, I was like a possessed child making that move and I got a “talking to” on the way home and a “lickin'” when I got home. I am sure my grandmother who was facing the stove at the time attending to her pot roast, was chuckling silently – she and my grandfather fought like cats and dogs all the time. I added a little spice to the Sunday dinner. 🙂
I didn’t know there were so many variations of French – you taught me something here. I just knew about Quebecois French and Parisienne French which we learned in school. Since you went to elementary school in Ontario, you likely learned like we did – we had 8 1/2 X 11 cardboard pictures of scenes (like a farm, or a kitchen, a picnic, etc.) and the teacher had a large roll-down picture like ours (like a map) and we had to learn all the French vocabulary on the card then take a test. I took French in college for four years and am ashamed to say I remember none of it … it’s been four decades, but the last year of school our class was not allowed to speak in English and our assignments were book reports, reviews of movie/TV shows all to be written in French or delivered orally to the class. It is a waste now that I think of it.
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He sounded like someone who shouldn’t have children. Good for you for giving him hell!
Ya,learning French was a total waste of time for me and a waste of money for the school board!!
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Yes, I never understood how he and my mild-mannered grandmother could have hit it off to begin with. He was ignorant to my mom too and her grandfather was the same as my grandfather – very gruff and never showed them any affection.
I think if you don’t have anyone to speak a foreign language with, you’ll forget it. I sometimes have seen a story or book with some French in it and can read it, but not always and I don’t know if I can remember how to write it either.
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men of that generation seemed to all be gruff and insensitive.
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A harder life and no time for foolishness nor worrying about offending people, especially kids.
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Great stories, Linda! I didn’t know either of my grandfathers, but I don’t think I would have traded places with you!
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Glad you liked them Pam – interaction with my grandfather was not exactly warm and fuzzy back in the day, but it is fun now to reminisce, especially about my one and only “wild child” incident. 🙂
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😂😂😂
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Great great great post! Your grandma had a sweet face! I feel like jumping into the picture and give her a hug 🥰 My maternal grandma raced me since I was 3 days old. She just died at the age of 109. So I guess I have good genes! I am who and what I am because of her.
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I am glad you liked it Martha – I thought the world of my grandmother and always wondered how she could have ended up with someone as grouchy and rude as my grandfather. She was special and kind to everyone – people used to go ask her advice all the time and she was always ready and willing to lend an ear. You have wonderful memories of your grandmother too and lucky you as you spent even more time than I did bonding. That is a ripe old age and the way you take such good care of yourself, I have no doubt that you will live a long life like your beloved grandmother. I like that you say that you not only have her good genes, but also her other attributes as well.
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I didn’t even remember National Grandparents Day and bet none of our children did either. Holidays don’t mean much to me but for Easter…my favorite because of what it represents. I enjoyed your story here. I had fond memories of my grandparents but not so much my grandfather either. He was mostly quiet and pretty old when I was growing up but sure loved the little girls on his lap….if you know what I mean!!! Disgusting old man. Crazy the stories we get to pass on to our children. As long as we don’t repeat some of the behaviors. It is amazing how many of us have similar backgrounds even though miles apart and years that may be between us. Now I know why they call children “ANKLE BITERS”. I always wondered where they got the term….LOL!
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That is funny that we have similar stories of our grandfathers … I don’t remember anything untoward happening like the little girls in his lap but he was not the kind of grandfather that you asked to sit on his knee or get anywhere near him. He was perpetually grouchy and he was older than my grandmother too. Maybe that is why. I sure do not know why I decided to bite him. I’d never done anything like that and my parents were so strict, I would think twice before doing something “bad” as I would get a spanking. And, I got a spanking that night when we got home. And heard about my behavior all the way home in the car. 🙂 I did look and it seems that Grandparents Day is celebrated in your state (I peeked at your About page) but I think it is more of a Hallmark holiday than something big like Valentine’s Day or even Sweetest Day.
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