--But, she was my Grandma. As long as I can remember my Grandma Smith, she lived simply in a small apartments north of the down-town area of Marhsalltown or when I was really young I remember visiting her in a small cottage at the Iowa Veterans Home.
She never cooked a meal while visiting and of course living in an apartment didn't garden. I do remember her knitting or crocheting(never knew the difference) But, the work she did was very intricate and detailed despite her poor eye-sight or so it seemed.
For the time, she looked she looked like a Grandma should look. I have one picture of our family in Estes Park, Colorado by the Big Thompson Canyon River. There she sat at age 64 with her print mid-calf dress, black high tied shoes, white hair and of course no make-up.
She did have smooth, flawless, and very white skin. She never let much of her skin get exposed to the sun. That's the way "ladies" of the times did it. No doubt, that's why she had such a beautiful comlexion into her 90's. A lesson ladies!
She would come down and stay with us on the farm on different occasions. The one north bedroom upstairs at our place, I always considered it hers. Any time we had family get togethers she was always included. Years later, it got very difficult to get her out of her apartment for most occasions.
On one of her late birthdays, I had called her the night before to wish her a happy birthday. She didn't answer the phone but, I assumed that possibly my aunt Vivian(oldest daughter) had her come to their house near-by or she had gone to bed early.
Well, the next day was her actual birthday so I thought I would call her then. Why I didn't call my mother or aunt I'll never know. She had fallen and laid there all night and my aunt Vivian found her the next day on her birthday. That poor lady laid there all night. I felt so guilty!
Compared to my Grandma Laverty, Grandma Smith had very little. As a kid you were lucky to get anything for your birthday or Christmas and that was OK.
When she was at the Southridge Nursing Home in Marshalltown I would visit her at least once a month either coming up from DesMoines where I lived while visiting my folks who lived in Melbourne or just straight up to visit just her.
She loved the Chicago Cubs and her knowledge of baseball was embarrasing to the average fan. She knew more basball stats then you really needed to know! She was amazing. My sister, Deborah, had her name announced for her 90th birthdayat Wrigley during a Cub game. She didn't care to watch basketball on TV as the action was too fast and difficult for her to follow.
Her mind was very sharp and memory extremely good for someone in their mid-nineties. The only thing that was frustrating was she wouldn't get hearing aids and it would get tiresome having to almost shout when visiting with her. But, sometimes while your back was to her while leaving and saying something, it was amazing that she knew what had been said??
Bottom line. She didn't have alot, she never said "I love you," or many hugs, but, she was my Grandma and deserved respect and dignity. Most of all, my love.
originally written 7/25/08
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