Grandma Goldie and Me—Great for Each Other (February 1, 2008)

Great Grandma Goldie, Grandma Eva and baby Kelly (September 1966)

Great Grandma Goldie and baby Kelly (February 1966)

Great Grandma Goldie, Don, Baby William, Great Grandma Grace and Kelly (February 1967)

 

     Grandma Goldie, my mother’s mother, was a kind and gentle soul.  She was my dream grandmother.  She stood five foot seven, two inches taller than my mother.  She had short grey hair and always wore flowered housedresses and sensible shoes, like most everybody’s grandmother did in those days.  My Grandma Goldie was very special to me because she loved me so unreservedly that I always knew it.  She made me feel special with her hugs and kisses and loving attention, and I loved her back with equal enthusiasm.  We were great for each other.

     In 1946 we moved to Davis and left Grandma behind in Klamath Falls.  It broke my heart because I missed her so much.  A year and a half later my mom and dad moved Grandma to Davis to be close to us.  What joy!  She moved into a little white house on G Street just south of 8th Street.  The house is still there and I think of Grandma every time I pass it.  I got to go to Grandma’s house on Fridays to spend the night with her.  She made popcorn and told me stories; she tucked me into the twin bed next to hers, where we slept happily side by side through the night.

     When I was seven years old, my Grandpa Irving, Goldie’s ex-husband, said he needed her to move to Santa Rosa to help my Uncle Buzz and Aunt Pat with their new baby and their farm.  Although I was heart sick to lose my grandmother again, I knew she would be wonderful with the new baby.  In two short years, Grandpa decided to move Buzz and Pat and little Susie to Oakdale to start a dairy farm.  He bought Grandma a little house of her own out on the edge of town in Santa Rosa where she was once again alone.  We visited Grandma often in Santa Rosa.  I remember she had a delicious pear tree in her back yard, which I loved.  I still enjoy eating pears and, to this day, they always bring to mind happy memories of my grandmother.

      Grandpa had left my grandmother for another woman in 1934 and then Grandma developed a serious drinking problem.  When we lived close to Grandma, she didn’t drink; but when we moved to Davis and left her behind, her drinking began again.  Her moves to Davis and subsequently to Santa Rosa made her happy and she quit drinking. Unfortunately, when she was once again left alone after Buzz and Pat moved away, the liquor bottles came out again.  Grandpa decided to put her in an alcohol facility, which really angered my mother; she went to Santa Rosa, checked Grandma out and moved her to Davis for keeps this time.

      Grandma settled into 417 B St. in the Town House apartments, across the street from Central Park and kitty-corner to my elementary/junior high school, which was just across the street from the high school.  Those two schools now house the central school offices and the Davis City administration buildings respectively.  I was in the sixth grade when she arrived and I saw her every day through my high school graduation.

     During this period Grandma’s alcohol consumption dropped to zero. Each day my brother Michael and I went to Grandma’s for a delicious lunch.  She often fried us chicken or made hamburger patties.  She even peeled grapes for us, the only time I had those in my life.  She also frequently baked homemade sugar cookies, my favorites. Yum!  Every day after school, I headed right to Grandma’s to do my homework and visit with her, my favorite thing to do!

     I again started to spend every Friday night with her, just as I had done when she lived in Davis before.  Friday night with Grandma was the highlight of my week--and hers too.  We settled in to watch our favorite TV shows: Jimmy Durante, Rosemary Clooney and Perry Como, among others.  We cracked almonds and walnuts my dad brought home from the campus.  We made popcorn, did crafts and looked at all of Grandma’s old family pictures. She told me stories of her youth and that of my mom; I heard about her brother and sister, along with all the other relatives on Mom’s side of the family.  I especially liked the stories she told about Irving’s sister Florence, who had been married five times. One of her husbands was an athletic trainer at least 30 years her junior.  Florence came to see grandma several times while I was visiting.  She was full of fun and also had great family stories to tell.

 

     Grandma kept a picture of Grandpa Irving on her desk in the living room.  She still loved him dearly and hoped he would return to her one day.  Unfortunately, that dream never came to pass; Grandpa died in a horrible car accident in 1956, just before I started the 8th grade.   Grandma was crushed, but we still had each other and spent every minute together that we could.  We were great for each other!

To be continued