Grandmothers; indulge me please

So sorry for the loss of your GM Fanny.

I was extremely close to my maternal GM. She was my rock and I still miss her. She was a brilliant seamstress and made most of my dresses when I was little, always making one for my favourite doll so we would be 'twins'.

I have every single one of the garments she knitted for our boys when they were babies and I keep them together with the wedding dress she made for my mum.

The dress has long sleeves with tiny buttons all the way to the top and the same buttons down the back from the neck to the waist. She covered every single one in the same material as the dress.

I have her manual Singer sewing machine with all the bobbins and needles as well as her thimble. She enriched my life and provided much needed stability during my child hood.

This is a lovely thread and has given us all the opportunity to talk about our own GM's and share some memories. Thank you Fanny.

I am so sorry for your loss FannyCornforth. I hope that your lovely memories of your Nan will bring you some comfort.

Three of my grandparents died before I was born, my maternal GM and GF died at 50 and 52. My paternal GM was 75 when I was born and I never spent time with her on my own. There were always a crowd of other older granchildren around when I saw her. My dad didn't really know much about her earlier life apart from the fact that she had been married twice (he had an older half-brother who was brought up with the 5 children from her second marriage).

My DH has researched our family history on both sides for nearly 40 years now and has gathered a wealth of information about her, but I know that that is not the same as having personal memories of your grandparents. You obviously had a close and loving relationship with your Nan which a wonderful thing to have had. My thoughts are with you at this sad time.

My paternal grandmother was a small neat woman. A talented seamstress who taught sewing at night classes. She could make beautifully tailored tweed coats, perfectly lined and fitted to the wearer. I remember going for dress fittings throughout my childhood.
She had a book where she would write down our body measurements in pencil, bust, waist, hips, shoulder to waist etc. All the family members were in that book.
I have my fathers christening gown which she made for him ( he’s now 86), I wore it, my children both wore it.
I have her dining room table in my kitchen covered with a pvc cloth.
It’s the table she used to sew at every afternoon. Sometimes I get my sewing machine out, I can’t do anything clever like she used to, but it feels like a connection to be sitting at the same table she used all those years ago.

She died 35 years ago when I was 19. I wish I could have learned more about how to sew when she was alive, but I wasn’t interested at the time.

She could bake a mean egg custard tart. I’ve never been able to recreate her Christmas stuffing recipe which was amazing.
She didn’t have a huge amount of money, but prized quality. She would buy a decent classic leather bag that would last for years rather than several cheaper ones.
She was also full of anxieties over what other people would think, endlessly analysing everyone and everything which could be very hard work. My mum, her daughter in law, was always on her guard around her.

My maternal grandmother could not have been more different. A large well built woman. Not the greatest cook, could hardly sew on a button and cooked when she had too, not at all practical. She loved people and company. Enjoyed her grandchildren, would get down on the floor and play imaginative games or tell us stories of her youth. I spent much more time with her and her house was much more relaxed. I was much older in my 30s when she died, so knew her more as an adult. She had some wise advice when my children were babies about enjoying them while they were little.

She was forthright and opinionated and we would often clash when she wouldn’t give an inch, especially when I was a teenager.
She would sometimes reminisce about her early courting days with my grandad, how different the world is now. She taught me the importance of a strong partnership for life through good and bad times and sometimes you have to work at a relationship.

Sorry for your loss, this thread has got me thinking about the memories we will leave our children with and resolving to take the best of both my grandmothers and try to pass some of their essence on to future generations.

Wow there’s a lot of messages on thread clearly a lot of well loved grandmas. My memories of my fathers mother who lived with us when I grew up was a very kind funny lady, who I snuck into her room when I should have been in bed to watch a bit of extra tv! My mums mother I stayed at a lot at weekends cause she lived near the stables I used to work at, she taught me to knit which I love to do. She also always had a bath run for me and my nightie on the radiator! Then I’d go to bed under a golden quilt which I now have and love, such happy memories of them both. Your grandma will be missed but you are blessed to have had her in your life. I’m now a grandma and really hope they will have happy memories of me when I’m gone (hopefully not for 40 years or so!) thoughts are with you ?

Such a loss Fanny but I hope you find comfort in your happy memories of such an important person in your life.

My Granma was lovely to me. Me and my mother lived with her from when I was 2 years old until I was 11. If I had known the future I would have stayed there with her...but I would go to her house nearly every day anyway, that was my home.

She was a widow, and I was very close to her. She brought me up really as Mum worked and socialised a lot. We would have conversations about all sorts, she was very interested in so many things and taught me so much. I would go to church with her every Sunday to keep her company.

Frugal and non materialistic I take after her and share her values and outlook on life. I have been lost without her since she died when I was 35. She would cook every day, made jams with fruit from the garden and hedgerows, her roast dinners were amazing.

Her face would light up when I went to see her and out would come the cake, biscuits or toast and tea. I felt welcome, loved and happy around her.

I miss her every day, she was so kind, a special lady who had a difficult and lonely life in later years. The family were shaken badly when she died. I loved her so much.

Very sorry for your loss. I loved my Nan very much, she was my mums mum and lived across the road from us. She was a massive part of my childhood as she looked after me a lot. When my grandad died I used to stay with her over the weekend to keep her company. It was great, she let me stay up late and watch the programmes my parents wouldn't let me watch, The Avengers and Ready Steady Go! ( anyone remember that?)
Thinking of her makes me miss her, Elizabeth Sheldon, I wonder what she would make of the world today ?

When I was born, I had two full sets of grandparents, and 3 great grandparents alive. My two grandmothers were marvellous and loving in their own special ways, one would hug me and throw her arms open every time I arrived for a visit. She taught me about flowers, plants, growing things, also taught me to sew. She had been a pupil teacher for three years from 1916, and saved up to send herself to a Welsh Ladies Teacher Training College. She was in my life and in my DS life until I was 33. My other lovely grandmother had had a hard childhood, but was a cheerful, hard working, working class woman from a big matriarchal Welsh family. She worked in shops in Ladieswear from age 14 to age 67. 5-6 long days a week. I learnt from her the value of looking smart, working hard and being prepared. She was very funny, especially when her sisters came around. She was in my life until I was 48, 13 years ago. I think about and miss them every day, more so during these times of shielding. One of my favourite memories as a child was when I lived with one set of grandparents, near enough to visit the other. One early evening, they all visited each other, and sitting between my two grandmothers was heavenly. My grandfathers were in the front room, chatting too and watching the football. Sorry for your loss OP.

I don't remember my Dad's mum s she died when I was a baby, but my Mum's mum I have no good memories of her, she was a horrible person, who hated my dad with a passion, although he was the son in law that would do anything for her. She through her only son out when he was only 18 and never saw him again before she died. She died in her early 60's a lonely and embittered old woman. I would have loved to have my friends gran as my grandmother, as I loved her to bits.

I unfortunately never had the pleasure of having grandparents at all. My mums mum died when my mum was 2 weeks old and mum was looked after by her aunt who died before my oldest sister was born. Mums dad died when mum was 15. My dads dad died in 1933 just after my oldest sister was born and dads mum died before I was born in 1942. My two older sisters only vaguely remember our Gran, dads mum. I sometimes envy friends who talk lovingly about grandparents.

FannyCornforth I'm so sorry you've lost your beloved Grandma.

I loved mine as much and was her only granddaughter . I have her engagement ring that I wear all the time. She was a kind, loving woman and I was lucky that I knew her when I was an adult as well as a child. She was 92 when she died.

My maternal grandma died when I was 11. I remember going to her house and she`d divide a Mars bar into 5 pieces for us kids to share, a Mars bar was a luxury. She came to dinner every Saturday, nearly always brought tomato sausage, I hated it! She had very long hair, wore it in a bun all the time, but used to let me comb it out as a special treat.
My paternal grandma lived a long way from us, I didn`t see her very often, until I ran away from home aged nearly 13 and lived with her till I got married at 20. She spoiled me rotten, until I had a boyfriend, then she became very strict, no hand holding, definitely no kissing! She refused to come to our wedding because we were married in a registry office rather than a church. She died when I was 22, in 1965.
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