Let's talk about our grannies

[Firstbornunicorn]

I've just written a lengthy spiel on another thread about my granny.

She died a couple of years ago. I was her oldest grandchild, and we had a very special relationship.

She was clever, mischievous and funny. She never let the truth get in the way of a good story. She spoke her mind, told bad jokes, loved kids, animals, and nature.

She was never really short-tempered, but was as stubborn as a mule. She claimed not to like cats, but then totally fawned over mine. When I was a teenager, she'd ask me to help carry the tea tray on a Sunday, and use it as an excuse to slip a tenner into my pocket.

She always had Ribena and crisps in the house. She read the Mirror and believed every word of it. She was devoutly Catholic, but sometimes a but woo as well.

What was/is your granny like?

This thread is so lovely.

Watching TV with my granny in the early ‘80s when a scene came on that implied the two women were in a sexual relationship. I was in my late 20s, she was 92. “Dahling” (she had a heavy South American accent) “I can understand what two men do together in bed, but why do women go to bed together? I have never really understood.”

From which I deduced she had never had an orgasm. Gulp. I chickened out “I don’t know either Gammy” I lied. Well, she was 92, I thought it was better she didn’t find out this late what she’d been missing.

My Grandmother on my DMums side was deeply unpleasant and looking back I think she was diagnosable and would be institutionalised by todays standards. Some of the things she did would have had jail time attached without question I am sure.
We loved her when we were young because she seemed subversive and naughty and 'one of us' but as we grew up we realised that she was actually a boiling cauldron of bile and spite that had nothing good to say about anyone and was very destructively abusive to our DMum. She married a much older man on the rebound from another relationship and made his life hell to the point he moved into a shed in the garden! She lived a long life but I only went to her funeral to make sure she went in the ground.

Granny on Dad's side was nicer but me and my DBro were nowhere near her favourite grandchildren and this was evident from early on by the disparity in the way were all treated. Grandad was lovely though and used to give us 50p pieces secretly just as we came away. Granny didn't know about that!
Luckily we had a NDN that was like a GMother to us in every respect but we called her Auntie. She was a londoner and had a really strong accent. I have never met a kinder soul.

My maternal grandad was the sweetest man ever. He was not one for words and would never ever involve himself in gossip.
As a teenager I would tell him all my secrets, my fears and hopes for the future.
He would never judge me and would never divulge the content of our discussions to anyone
He was obsessed with not going grey and would ask me to come to his house to dye his hair a rather unnatural jet black colour.
He was an erudite man who taught me about politics, theology and life in general
I miss him

Sorry . I realise it’s about grannies

I lost my amazing Gran 3 months ago at the ripe old age of 86, I miss her every day!

All I can say is that she was an AMAZING woman!

My Grandma was fabulous. She died aged 97 suddenly sitting in an armchair with a glass of champagne in her hand.
We used to do the Sunday Express crossword together on a Monday afternoon with all her general knowledge books., tea in bone china cups and biscuits.
She was tiny and learned to drive in imported American cars. People used to tell her father in law that it looked like the car had no driver.
She didn't have to take a driving test till after she had my Uncle in the mid 1930s. My grandad had two tractor drivers taking their test the same door. He was desperate for them to pass and was less than pleased when Grandma passed and they both failed.
In the mid 1970s Grandad sent Grandma off to the Birmingham Motor Show to choose a new car. The following phone call occurred later in the day.
GRANDMA. "R dear, I've found a new car...
GRANDAD." Lovely J. What make of car?,"
GRANDMA." I can't remember dear, but it has three letters...! "
It was a BMW!!! 😂 😂 😂 😂
Grandma was very cross when Grandad turned down jury service to do the harvest in the 1930s. He missed doing the Duchess of Windsor divorce case and Grandma missed all the gossip!!
She was fabulous.

My dgm died when I was 29.

She used to make the best savoury rice and save me a bit - probably was only a packet mix
Before I was at school she used to call me ‘dinky’ and take me to the launderette with her
But my favourite memory is every Saturday night my siblings parents and grandparents would have fish and chips with buttery rolls and lemonade.
Happy days. I miss her so much

My nan was the strongest woman ive ever known. She was the only person in my family that showed me love.

She'd fight to the death for her family she even tried to get out of bed with a broken hip to go get my exh and "go sock him one" her words for cheating on me.

She made the best custard ever and coz I was the only granddaughter I was spoilt rotten by her.
God I miss her so much.

My granny was a tiny, hard working farmers wife. And prize winning baker.
I knew she had a lot of evacuees in the war.
At her funeral, we discovered that she refused to rush down to the church hall when the new lot arrived, to pick the most appealing kids.
She said, "there's always some still waiting". Those are the ones she took home.

She'd fight to the death for her family she even tried to get out of bed with a broken hip to go get my exh and "go sock him one" her words grin for cheating on me.

That made me laugh. And pang, but in a really good "lift up" way, cos she sounds so much like my own grandmother.

Which is good cos this thread has increased Kleenex's share price significantly on this side of the alps.

I look like fecking Rudolf between my stinking cold and reading all the posts.

My nanny was amazing, although she died when I was 7. Her sister, my great aunty, (Aunty B) was an absolutely amazing person. She died when I was 21 but her stories about being in Paris 2 days after it was liberated from the nazis and getting drunk with American GIs were amazing.

It’s one of the reasons we’ve decided to not put off TTC, our mums will be amazing grannies and we don’t want to miss out on that.

My granny is still alive and I'm lucky to have known her my entire life.

I was her first grandchild and only for many years. I remember fondly playin in her garden as a young girl and she took care of me like her own

She'd bring me up to her friends houses when she was going up to have a chat

We used to have things called 'granny days' where she would bring me into town for cake and to buy me lots of things, she would spoil me. Before I started school each year she'd buy me all my uniform, books, nice pencil cases, covers for books etc.

Her and my grandfather brought me on holiday every year for 6 weeks with them to a sunny country. Lots of summer clothes

But apart from all the physical things she has taught me hard work, determination and anything is possible.

I look up to her when I think of family life and work, my dream is to be just like her one day :) she's so dedicated and motivated and clever with money, savings, she's a super granny!

She's back from holidays today and I cannot wait to see her x

This thread is lovely.

Unfortunately my paternal grandmother died a long time before I was born. Apparently I'm just like her though, in looks and personality. My aunt's tell me every time I see them how I'm the image of her. My love of chocolates and romance are also the same.

My maternal grandmother died when I was 5, I remember a little about her, she seemed a big lady, tall and we'll built (no idea if she was tall) her house had an odd smell like gas or onions to it. She had a lot of weird ornaments and it was cluttered. I don't remember her voice, although I remember she told me in a thunder storm that it was just god moving the furniture around.
I remember going to see her in the hospital before she died, she had cancer but hadn't had treatment so didn't look poorly, she gave us a toy each which I still have. And then my last memory is my mum on the phone to me saying nanny has died, and that means you won't ever see her again, which really upset me.

I wish I had known both of them, and had them in my life.

Such a lovely thread.

I didn't have any grannies, but we adopted an elderly friend as a substitute. She was a very formal old lady, always in smart clothes, a hat for church, pillar of the WI etc.

But she would bake cakes with us and always "accidentally" make too much mixture so there was loads left to lick out of the bowl. And cut oranges into quarters to serve with a saucer of sugar to dip them in. "Don't tell your mum, and clean your teeth extra hard tonight."

My grandmothers were both strong women, both fighters, both long lived (one to 98, the other to 102). But there the similarity ended.

Granny (maternal) was a stalwart of the community in her Northern Irish village, a member of the Presbyterian Women's Association, mother to six, grandmother to eleven and great grandmother to erm...can't be bothered to count. She was one of those who always had friends dropping by for a cuppa, was always chatting and knitting and doing her tapestry, and always knew what was going on in the neighbourhood.

Babcia on the other hand - completely different kettle of fish. She basically had her life knocked right off course in 1939 when she, my Dziadzius and my dad and aunt had to flee Poland. In her forties, she had to cope with living in refugee camps, fleeing from the Nazis and the Russians, not knowing where her husband was for years, walking for miles without shoes so her children could have food and water. She was stubborn, resourceful and brave. Legend has it she knocked ten years off her age when she ordered her replacement ID, so never got her telegram from the Queen. Never went out without her lipstick either.

She was never a cuddly grandma. She and my DM had a few run-ins because her ideas were, shall we say, outdated (say no more). Her English was limited and functional and my Polish stopped at the level of a two year old, so conversation didn't really happen. But she did love to cook for us, and her Polish Christmas feasts were the stuff of family legend.

Cesira I love you
This is the best thread ever. Reading and laughing and crying at the same time.

We need more threads like this. We don't deserve these wonderful women.

My Grandma was a soft pillowy cloud of unconditional love. My sister and I were her only grandchildren and she doted on us unreservedly. She smelt of talcum powder and had pearly-white false teeth and fed us Wagon Wheels when our mother wasn’t looking. Before bedtime she would sit us both on her ample lap and read us The Magic Porridge Pot while we fiddled with the old-fashioned lacy antimacassars on the armchair.

We lived abroad but visited every year, and spent the summer heatwaves of the mid-1970s bouncing around her beautiful garden on Space Hoppers and listening out for the tinkle of the ice-cream van. She showed us how to keep the pond clean and feed the goldfish.

Then when I was 8 Grandma got cancer and went into hospital. The pond dried up and the flowers shrivelled and died. We got on a plane to come back to her and I sat by her bed holding her hand, and she said it would all be OK and we would replant the garden and restock the pond again, together.

And the next day my Dad was crying, and she was dead.

Lovely Grandma - so much love, never forgotten xx