Remembrance

Today, of course, is a day of remembrance. For all the veterans of the armed services we think of you (and remember you, and thank you) for the sacrifice and service you've given your country.

On a more personal note, today once was my maternal grandmother's birthday. She was a beauty, wasn't she? Nowadays I refer to her in jest as my "hubba hubba grannie," but wowsa she really was.

She was born to a time where she always referred to today as "Armistice Day" - she'd forgo the newer term of "Veteran's Day" - and if you reminded her of the change she'd become snappish and say petulantly, "I know! I know!" (In hindsight, I wonder if she did it to annoy my dad, who was a WWII vet. Most probably. No, definitely. She loved to annoy him.) Or maybe she just didn't like to be reminded of all the conflicts in her lifetime. WWI. WWII. The Mushroom Cloud. Korea. The Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis. Vietnam.

Ah, well.

She'd also tell we kids that the reason everyone had the day off was because it was her birthday. She was that important.

Grandma really was something else, when I think about it. This portrait was done when she was in her twenties. She was quite smart, as well as being beautiful.  She was a math genius ("oh, calculus is easy" she'd advise when I'd whine about mere algebra), who worked as a CPA until my mother was born... in her late twenties. Pause for that. And as a young woman, she bobbed her hair, raised her hems, smoked those cigarettes and danced that Charleston when she was done crunching numbers for the day. Oh, I forgot about the gin. Go Grannie go.

(Here's that photo again of her with Grandpa in the glory days following WWII, most likely in the late '40s or early '50s.)

So, this remembrance is for her, as well as my uncles and father who served in WWII, my neighbor Mike who still deals with the horror of Vietnam, my friends who served (either because they volunteered or were drafted), in fact all veterans everywhere across this country who served because they believed it was the right thing to do.

Grandma's also remembered by the generation who lost her before they knew her. One of my GenX son's tattoos is Grannie inspired. I'd like to think she'd be rather proud.

Go Grannie go, indeed.

Rock on, Hubba Hubba.

Peace out.

Comments

[Lin]

I love that picture of your beautiful grandmother and your remembrance of her and those who have served. Yesterday my husband popped into the English shop in Thousand Oaks to grab that crap junk food we miss the most. When he left the ladies there gave him a paper poppy. This morning, getting ready to fly up to Seattle on business, he put that poppy in his suit jacket buttonhole. Armistice Day, Veteran's Day, Remembrance Day, Poppy Day. 11/11.

(And I signed the petition yesterday, but thanks for sending my way),

[shaunna]

my grandparents retired to thousand oaks in the mid-'60s, and they're interned in westlake. how's that for a co-inkydink? :-)

[phhhst]

Oh! Nice work with grandma and Veteran's Day. Love the pic and is that the actual tattoo?

[shaunna]

yes indeed, that's the genuine article on big boy (although i took the pic when it was new - it's now colored in).

[Kristan Hoffman]

Hah, a tattoo inspired by Grandma? That's a new one to me. But kinda cool.

Here via phhhst, and your granny seems pretty awesome!

[thistle]

Lord your grannie looks like my paternal grannie did...she also was a bit of a rake and a free spirit...i blame that little bit of irish blood in her :) Best of all, her joie de vivre infuriated my mother who was straight dour scot and unusually prudish even by their standards...

great pic and great remembrance!

cheers...

[shaunna]

thistle, grandma was scots (her dad) and irish (her mom). the description of a dour scots sounds like grandma's older brother who immigrated... to sasakawan.

[Kate Lord Brown]

Hello - came to you via Pseudo - your grandma is marvellous! Goodness - everyone should have an ancestor like that!!