Grandmothers; indulge me please

Fannycornforth so so sorry for your loss.
It will be a huge loss to you.
But as you say a life well lived.

My mother also died in her fifties before all my grandparents.

My maternal grandmother like your grandmother passed away in 90's, I can totally relate to how bereft you feel or will feel over the coming days and months.

My mother and I lived with my maternal grandparents for the first years of my life.
My father was working abroad.

It took me to have my own first grandson to understand why the bond between my maternal grandmother and myself was so strong.
My daughter's partner also worked away from home and so she and my first baby grandson stayed with us, history repeating itself.

I could wax lyrical all day long.

My grandmother was the most warm cuddly grandmotherly person, I have ever encountered.
I loved her to bits and still do.

Her home was warm and welcoming.
An open house, she could feed 10 people from a chicken and chicken soup.

My husband adored my grandmother from his very first meeting.
My children also loved their great grandmother and have lovely memories of her cosy home.

To be her granddaughter,
I know luck was truly on my side,

I miss my grandmother eveyday.

I never knew either sets of grandparents so grew up not knowing grandparents at all. Imagine never having a granny.

Lucky ladies to have had grandmothers in your lives. My siblings and me never had the experience of grandmothers or grandfathers. All died before we were born. My Mum however was the most sensible and loving grandma to her her 7 grandchildren. I have 5 grandchildren and I endeavor to follow her wonderful example.

My paternal grandma was a proud,stern woman who was always telling us off- but she also had a tough life and was very musical- I can still hear her singing!
My maternal grandma was kind and generous person who had a much tougher life yet somehow it hadn't hardened her. She spent her married life in a small mining village and had seven children, recently we found her obituary in the local paper.
Before the NHS she was the village midwife, assisting with births and also would lay out the dead before burial, washing their bodies and dressing them before burial.
Once when I visited her I opened a sideboard drawer and found a frilly white nightie thing.
'What's this, grandma? I asked.
'It's my shroud,' she replied.
I really respect and admire both these women and I am so proud they were both my grandmas.

So sorry for your loss. Sadly I never knew any of mine. They were in Southern Ireland. My mother's parents died before I was born and my father left Ireland and never contacted his parents again so we never knew them. How awful for them.
I keep telling our granddaughter how lucky she is to have two sets alive and well She agrees.

I hardly saw my Italian granny due to the fact that we lived in different countries. When we did visit, it was often for 6 weeks at a time.
She lived on a farm in Tuscany, halfway between Florence and Siena.
My grandfather was allowed to think he was head of the family but in reality it was Nonna who ruled the roost!
I have wonderful memories of cuddles and laughter and living a life totally alien to me.
Collecting water from the well, reading by lamplight and candles, helping on the farm with the harvest and animals.
She cooked on an open fire and could produce wonderful meals, some of which were roasts using a clockwork spit.
I have inherited it and it still gets used only this time its on the BBQ.
Happy times.

So sorry to hear this, Fanny. ?

My English grandmother was a tough lady from a working class area of inner city Birmingham. She was intelligent but didn't have the opportunity to advance her education due to poverty.
She was the eldest of 16 children, left school at 13 and worked on a capstan lathe in a local factory. Lived through 2 world wars and raised 4 boys all of whom fought in WW2.
She was fiesty, cantankerous, opinionated and not averse to using her fists if the occasion needed it.
She was kind to me, taught me to knit and crochet and she made wonderful apple pies. She died aged 72 when I was 16. I still miss her.

FannyCornforth I am so sorry, when someone dear to you dies, regardless of their age, the loss is just a s much a shock and the adjustment as difficult.

I had one grandmother who I didn't really like very much and one I adored. She was my maternal grandmother and had had a very difficult life. The daughter of Irish immigrants, her father died before she was born, she had severe asthma all her life. her DH, DB, BiL and baby son all died during WW1. She was left responsible for 2 little girls, elderly mother and sickly older sister. But she made her way in life. Both daughters went to grammar school. She worked as a dressmaker and housekeeper and after her house was destroyed in the blitz she lived with my mother and then my DS and me. After she moved back into her rebuilt house I loved visiting her. I have memories of playing in her garden and in the house with my sister. I was at my happiest when I was with her. She died of pneumonia when I was 14, after a lifetime of lung disease. I have told my children and grandchildren of her and shown them the few family photos I have and treasure the things I have that remind me of her.

? a good life, but still a sad loss FC

I can’t remember much about my Dad’s Mum - think Mrs Danvers - tall, slim and always in black! Apparently, various cousins would arrive from Ireland regularly and she’d accommodate and teach them how to be maids so they could gain employment.

My Mum’s Mother was wonderful - I was her only grandchild. She had been in service when younger, so every other week when my Grandad was in ‘back shift’ I’d go there for tea every night - a properly set table always. That image stays with me. She bought all my school uniform (expensive and exclusive), paid for me to go on a school cruise and even bought my wedding dress. I loved her very much, but she suffered a massive stroke and ended up in residential care and eventually, I don’t think she knew who I was. Still, the good memories prevail.