Your lovely dgm..

[Maydaysoonenough]

Tell me something lovely you remember about your dgm!!
Mine would have been 98 today!! Sadly she died in 1999.
She always had time for me and my dc.. Never tired or crabby!! Always a home baked treat available! And a Sunday roast!
And 27 perfect Christmases she gave us!
Sadly missed.

Her kindness and warmth. She'd give you her last penny if you needed it. Miss her terribly. She died in 2016. She used to call me her other daughter.
I wear her wedding ring on a chain around my neck as it makes me feel close to her.

My amazing grandma would’ve been 100 this year. She’s been gone 22 years and I still miss her every day.
I remember she always had a bag of chocolate lime sweets in her pocket, the only time she ever cooked was Christmas when she’d make Christmas cakes for what seemed like everybody in town and she used to shout at the neighbours if they dared complain about us playing in the street.
I wish more than anything she’d got to meet my DD!

After my DGM died, my mum found all the letters I had written to her whilst I was at university. They were in a neat pile in the kitchen drawer and were all soft and fragile round the folds because she had read and reread them. Really made me appreciate how much I was loved 💕💕

Sadly I have no keepsakes. My dgm lived with her dd and died before her. Aunt's carers got everything... Including all my family's personal stuff that would have meant nothing to them. Callous.

But I remember all the nik naps my dgf had brought he rback from his navy travels.
No idea what happened to her valuables as she didn't leave a will.
Happy birthday dgm.. She worked in a toy shop!! What a dgm eh??

I only ever knew one of my Grandmas, and she died almost 20 years ago. She would be 99 this year. She was very sweet and lovely, and I remember when we would stay the night there she'd let us come into her bed in the morning for a cuddle and sometimes a cup of milk with a chocolate biscuit.

I was obsessed with boarding school stories as a child (Mallory Towers, Chalet School etc) and then discovered that she actually went to a proper old-fashioned girls' boarding school back in the 30s - it really was like the books! She used to tell me lots of stories of all the adventures they had, I loved it.

Mine also died in 1999. She used to love baking and always had the knitting needles on the go. Always gave me 50p and a Milky Way (don't tell grandad). Needed glasses and a hearing aid but would use a magnifying glass and you had to shout. I adored her and think about her every day. When my DM gets the biscuit tin out for DD it makes me think of DGM. What a lovely thread

My Gamma came to our wedding here in the UK (from NZ). She was 75 and it was the first (and only) time she'd been further than Australia. That was such a beautiful thing for me. She also taught me piano when I was younger, and always let me get away with refusing to play certain pieces just because I didn't like them. She wasn't the best cook, but her pork with peaches was to die for, and I love having vanilla ice cream with crushed pineapple for pudding.

My Oma was formidably intelligent, and brimming with love. She always gave us two marshmallows ("one for each hand"), and was one of the few people in the world allowed to call me by a particular diminutive of my name that I hated. She was so interested in everything we did, you knew she was listening when you told her about your day.

Gamma died just over 5 years ago, not long after I called her to say goodbye.

Oma died 7 years ago now.

They both had a lot of grandchildren, and made each of us feel special. I miss them both every day.

She was 86 when she died so would've have been 109 now

My granny is 78. Still alive and kicking but the pandemic has given her depression and she's started forgetting things. It's upsetting as I live so far away from her and wish I was nearer to help.

Despite that, she's amazing. We speak on the phone at least three times a week and chat for at least an hour each time - longer on the weekends. We talk about feminism, about religion, philosophy, science, history, ancestors, dogs. She is wonderfully accepting of DP and I (we're lesbians). She is so excited for our wedding next year.

Her house smells of warmth and dog biscuits. I haven't visited or seen her since 2019 and I miss her so much. She made every visit amazing and she let me live with her as a teenager so in some ways she's like a mum to me. She gives great advice and really does seem to know everything.

I love her to bits. Fingers crossed I recover quickly from my injury and can get down to see her soon.

I remember my maternal GM singing hymns while she did the pots.
My paternal GM used to take me to art galleries and ask me so many questions. Set me off on going to art college.
Wonderful women.
My own mother is the most amazing GM to my kids.

My Granny died in 2019, just before her 85th birthday. She was my best friend and like a second mum to me. I miss everything about her. She was fiercely protective, unconditionally loving and had a wicked sense of humour. I was lucky to have almost 35 years with her but it still wasn't enough. I'm sad she never got to meet my children, they've missed out there. I had some of her ashes made into a necklace pendant which I never take off. I love that a part of her is always with me.

What a lovely thread, my nana also died in 1999 suddenly and my grandad very soon after. They were just wonderful. So many things others have said have resonated. I still miss them terribly.

My 93yr old paternal dgm was the most loving and gentle soul and died just before the pandemic. I was holding her hand at the end.

My maternal dgm was formidable and at nearly 91, fit as a fiddle. She ran up and down stairs, did 1000 piece jigsaws in one sitting and was always gardening.

She died unexpectedly 2 days ago.

So sorry ShowofHands

My Granma died in 1984 and I miss her every day. I lived with her until I was wrenched away aged 11...and she brought me up as if I was a daughter. She made my childhood a happy and safe one. We'd have amazing conversations, go to church together and she cooked wonderful Sunday roasts, made delicious jams. She was frugal, but we had marvellous Christmases and I wanted for nothing. She loved to feed people.
I never heard her complain about anything, she was so independent, interested in everything, strong and kind. I was devastated when she died. She lost her own mother when she was 14 years old and her life was difficult but she could also be very funny.
Miss her so much.

I was very close to my paternal grandmother who lived to be 99 so I had her in my life for a long time. There are just too many things to mention, but she was probably the single most influential person in my life. I had a special non-grandmother name for her, and now my grandchildren call me that name.

Mine is 96 and still going but very frail and confused. She taught me to knit, she was always giving me random balls of wool to knit teddies with. She loves costume jewellery, loves to find odd bits and convince herself they're old and valuable. She's always got her beads on, even when she has no idea who and where she is.
I'm so lucky to still have her.

My Grandma died in 1996 when I was 19. She was brilliant. She was very short and quite round with lots of very soft bright white hair. She was very witty and wise, and quite strict with high standards. She was a great cook and baker and an excellent wordsmith. When we visited on a Sunday, she would direct us around the kitchen helping to prepare and cook a roast in the Rayburn while she sat in her chair (she wasn’t very mobile by this point). She would peel spuds and prep veg in her chair and then read out the crossword clues for us all to get involved. She and my Grandad raised 8 children in a two bed bungalow just after the war, and had 24 grandchildren. She was the best.

My gran lived to be 98, she was a lovely lady, kind and gentle. She used to tell me wonderful stories from her childhood and the two world wars she lived through.

And I think she was born in about 1915 so would be around 107 now.

What a lovely thread! My grandmothers were both absolutely wonderful and completely different to each other. My dad's mum was just so kind and like a picture book grandma. She had funny quirks with food and used to produce odd combinations, we once had half a hot orange (heated in the oven) garnished with a single hot grape for dessert.

My other granny was quite fierce in a very loving sort of way and full of energy. She used to make little hurdling courses with jumps made out of stacked yogurt pots and we would run round the garden leaping over them. Then she would add an extra pot to increase the height and off we went again. She had too many cinzanos one Christmas and got out the scales fo find out who had the heaviest head, she was quite eccentric. She was playing badminton with me into her eighties, when she suddenly developed encephalitis following an infection. She recovered remarkably from it despite being in a coma for some time, and woke up with a passionate interest in feminism that she'd shown no signs of before her illness.

My maternal dgm died over 30 years ago and is still missed a lot. She was tiny like a little sparrow but was always on the go, always in her apron. She loved doing things, spent hours in the kitchen, we used to go and visit every Sunday and she and my grandad who died about 8 years before her, used to come to our house every Wednesday.

She made the most amazing chips, never been replicated and I was too young to take in how she made them but I often long for a plate of Granny chips with the fresh mint sauce she used to make.

My paternal dgm died when I was still a toddler, she had a hard life and was crippled with asthma. I vaguely remember what she looked like but mainly remember the poor soul's dreadful struggle to breathe.

Mine died in 1998, just before my 17th birthday. She was very straight talking, and I would ring her most nights after school to discuss the inns and outs of my friendship groups and our fallings out. She would always put me right. She loved clothes, handbags, and soap operas. My Grandad used to video all the soaps for her when she was in hospital. I didn't realise when she was in hospital at the end she could die. The last time I saw her she squeezed my hand very tightly as I left - perhaps she knew it was the last time as she died that afternoon- and being a teenager I just wanted to go and assumed I'd see her soon. It breaks me just thinking about it. My grandparents had this perfect love - the type you think might only ever exist in books and movies. They never argued, my grandfather bought her flowers every Saturday, and he was just unbearablely lost after she died. I had my first baby this year and I wish my grandparents had lived to see her. I am 40 years old and I cannot talk about my grandparents without crying because between them they gave me such selfless, endless love. We had a very difficult childhood in lots of ways and they provided a haven for my mother and me and my brother. I really can't describe it. They'd both be 98 this year.

Maternal DGM was always so elegant and stylish, hair in a chignon, nice jewellery. She was so good humoured and always laughing. She enjoyed a glass of sherry in the evenings, and then would get very chatty and keep DB and me laughing at her silly anecdotes.

Paternal DGM wasn't stylish. She was very much a stereotypical old lady in a nylon dress. She was hilarious, knew literally everyone in our town and never stopped talking.There was a park behind her house and we took her bonkers dog there. She taught me how to knit!

I loved them and miss them both... both contributed to my having a happy childhood.

My granny was extremely sharp. No nonsense. She grew up in working-class coalmining Wales in the 20s/30s, when most girls did not get an education. She got her school certificate and went to university. She met my grandpa, who was much better off, and spent a lot of her life being terribly prim and proper. I think it weighed on her that she (the oldest daughter) had made such a 'good' marriage and must now keep up standards. Her younger brother had polio and was disabled (and, not incidentally, also gay, which she knew about), so she was the one to be keeping up the family. She only told me about a lot of this when she was dying.

All my life she was hugely strict and snippy, absolutely fierce about manners! I wasn't approved of at all if I didn't wear a nice skirt or a dress, and she schooled me in the Book of Common Prayer rigorously. OTOH she used to tease my grandpa gently in a way that really shows me what genuine, last-the-test-of-time love looks like. And all through my childhood, when I stayed with them (which I did a lot), she would come in to tell me goodnight and say 'goodnight and god bless'. And so I say that to my daughter, and it makes me feel all's right in the world.