Grandparents
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:17 am
How many of you guys really got to know your grandparents?
The topic has been on my mind for about 3 years now. Pretty much ever since I got into law school I have wondered what they would think about me if they knew me.
So far my track list is as follows:
-- Mother's father died 10 yrs before I was born
-- Father's mother died 3 yrs after I was born
-- Mother's mother died 13 years after I was born
-- Father's father looks like he might be dying soon'ish (looked like a stroke, but turns out to be a diabetic coma coupled with pneumonia -- health isn't great regardless of stroke or not).
Of the list, 3 were alive at my birth, but i only have memories of the latter two.
My grandmother died when I was still at a rather awkward age. Unlike a number of people here who excelled at school from day one, I actually went through a lot of highs and lows. I was a somewhat troubled kid, with a lot of trouble concentrating on stuff that I felt was basically below me. Recently when i saw an old teacher of mine, he remarked that my mind always seemed like it was elsewhere, which is a pretty apt description.
Anyways, on the 18th of June 94 she had a stroke and then died as a vegetable of sorts in March 95. Interestingly enough, on pretty much the same day this year, the 16th of June, my grandfather had what we thought was a stroke. As a side, the numbers of it intrigued me, because it seems like a strange coincidence to have 2 grandparents get strokes on the exact same friday of the same month, exactly 13 yrs apart (particularly when i am almost exactly 26 yrs old). It's a safe bet that 13 yrs from now, if I remember this, I am gonna s*** myself from worry.
Well, my grandmother and I never got along too well. Like i said, i was sorta troubled and generally unruly. I also lacked the warmth that is so common in my family. I tend to be rather cold by nature and i think that must've bothered her since my cousins were always into hugs and kisses, where i could barely force myself to touch her. I imagine as I got older, I might've found more of a common ground with her and gotten along better. Plus I eventually became a bit less of an arrogant prick. Not much less, but a bit.
As for my grandfather.... the man's an idiot who doesn't speak a word of English. Just so you know, he's not an idiot because he doesn't speak English... he'd be an idiot in any language. I don't mean that as an insult either. He's a really nice, sweet and (IMO) overly emotional man. Just not too sharp. Anyways, for most of my life he was in Greece, so I haven't seen him too much...
Then you have the other two grandparents... my mother was very close with her dad and he died around finals of her first year in college.... that really f****** her up big time... caused her to leave school and make a number of seriously mistakes, culminating in my existence. Technically I wasn't a mistake.... i was actually planned.... but in many ways that makes it a lot worse...
And finally you have my father's mother. By all accounts a remarkably smart woman. Very good mathematical skills and fully literate, which is particularly impressive since she got no formal schooling after grade 2 and was totally self taught. Plus she was tough as hell. Around 70 or so she broke her arm travelling to Canada (back then it was a 2 day journey from Greece) and she waited until she got here to get it set and fixed.
My grandfather's potentially impending demise has made me think a lot of grandparents in general. I am a little bit unnerved by the fact that I don't really care too much about his dying. I am more unnerved by the fact that I am pretty pissed that there is no profit in it for me.
What has always pissed me off is that the only grandparent of mine to have seen me become an adult was this one. The one that I could never have ever really gotten all that attached to. My mother's parents wouldn't have had the language barrier *plus they were interesting in their own right* and my father's mother had an intellect and strength of character that would've made me feel like learning Greek was worthwhile if it meant getting to know her.
How many of you got to know your grandparents well? How many of you still have them? Are you close to them?
The topic has been on my mind for about 3 years now. Pretty much ever since I got into law school I have wondered what they would think about me if they knew me.
So far my track list is as follows:
-- Mother's father died 10 yrs before I was born
-- Father's mother died 3 yrs after I was born
-- Mother's mother died 13 years after I was born
-- Father's father looks like he might be dying soon'ish (looked like a stroke, but turns out to be a diabetic coma coupled with pneumonia -- health isn't great regardless of stroke or not).
Of the list, 3 were alive at my birth, but i only have memories of the latter two.
My grandmother died when I was still at a rather awkward age. Unlike a number of people here who excelled at school from day one, I actually went through a lot of highs and lows. I was a somewhat troubled kid, with a lot of trouble concentrating on stuff that I felt was basically below me. Recently when i saw an old teacher of mine, he remarked that my mind always seemed like it was elsewhere, which is a pretty apt description.
Anyways, on the 18th of June 94 she had a stroke and then died as a vegetable of sorts in March 95. Interestingly enough, on pretty much the same day this year, the 16th of June, my grandfather had what we thought was a stroke. As a side, the numbers of it intrigued me, because it seems like a strange coincidence to have 2 grandparents get strokes on the exact same friday of the same month, exactly 13 yrs apart (particularly when i am almost exactly 26 yrs old). It's a safe bet that 13 yrs from now, if I remember this, I am gonna s*** myself from worry.
Well, my grandmother and I never got along too well. Like i said, i was sorta troubled and generally unruly. I also lacked the warmth that is so common in my family. I tend to be rather cold by nature and i think that must've bothered her since my cousins were always into hugs and kisses, where i could barely force myself to touch her. I imagine as I got older, I might've found more of a common ground with her and gotten along better. Plus I eventually became a bit less of an arrogant prick. Not much less, but a bit.
As for my grandfather.... the man's an idiot who doesn't speak a word of English. Just so you know, he's not an idiot because he doesn't speak English... he'd be an idiot in any language. I don't mean that as an insult either. He's a really nice, sweet and (IMO) overly emotional man. Just not too sharp. Anyways, for most of my life he was in Greece, so I haven't seen him too much...
Then you have the other two grandparents... my mother was very close with her dad and he died around finals of her first year in college.... that really f****** her up big time... caused her to leave school and make a number of seriously mistakes, culminating in my existence. Technically I wasn't a mistake.... i was actually planned.... but in many ways that makes it a lot worse...
And finally you have my father's mother. By all accounts a remarkably smart woman. Very good mathematical skills and fully literate, which is particularly impressive since she got no formal schooling after grade 2 and was totally self taught. Plus she was tough as hell. Around 70 or so she broke her arm travelling to Canada (back then it was a 2 day journey from Greece) and she waited until she got here to get it set and fixed.
My grandfather's potentially impending demise has made me think a lot of grandparents in general. I am a little bit unnerved by the fact that I don't really care too much about his dying. I am more unnerved by the fact that I am pretty pissed that there is no profit in it for me.
What has always pissed me off is that the only grandparent of mine to have seen me become an adult was this one. The one that I could never have ever really gotten all that attached to. My mother's parents wouldn't have had the language barrier *plus they were interesting in their own right* and my father's mother had an intellect and strength of character that would've made me feel like learning Greek was worthwhile if it meant getting to know her.
How many of you got to know your grandparents well? How many of you still have them? Are you close to them?