a blast in the past

i spent some time, finally scanning some old pictures onto my computer.  they were all of my grandma f; who passed away five years ago.  hard to believe its been that long.  somedays it really only does seem like it was yesterday that i was talking to her and that she was "yelling" at me for some odd reason.  i didn't wear a warm enough coat or i wasn't eating the right things, etc...etc..etc..  at the time i am sure i was commonly annoyed at her for those remarks but now i'd probably give anything to get a brief moment back.  so many things have happened in the five years since she's been gone; the two biggest being the birth of my boys.  she always wanted me to have a baby-so that there would be someone to take care of me, she'd say.  i am sad everyday that she isn't here to see them and i am sure she'd be telling me they weren't wearing enough clothes-don't i know it's cold outside and of course they'd probably never eat the right things :)  i can just hear her "oh silky j" 

the pictures i scanned were all of different periods of her life and i am extremely blessed that i was 29 years old when she passed away at the age of 89 one month shy of her 90th birthday.  (i think of my own parents who didn't know their grandparents, they had passed away before they were born)  but still there were almost 60 years of her life i wasn't there for.  her parents died when she was fairly young i guess when she was around 9 or 10 years old. 

grandma is the younger of the two on the right

she lived in an orphanage for a few years with "the nuns" until she graduated high school and her older siblings had established themselves and she was able to go off and live with them. 



grandma is on the far left



i think after graduation she traveled around and lived in the new york/new jersey area because that's where her sister f was.  her brother j settled there after the war as well.  she finally settled in mckeesport, pa just outside of pittsburgh and lived with her sister c and her husband p.  this is where she met my grandfather a.  his family lived up the street from c and p.

married 9/28/1946

i don't think my dad arrived until december of 1952; not really sure what they did while they were waiting for him to get there.  i know they built a house next to c and p which is the same house my gram had until she passed away.  a little white house that eventually became tan and then blue...it went from two bedrooms to one when she turned my dad's room into a dining room.

her she is sitting outside in the front yard hemming up some pants :)

eventually her and my grandfather divorced and she worked various jobs to support her and my dad-in those days there wasn't any type of child support system.  in the early 1970s she started working at Mckeesport Hospital and she worked there until the early 1980s when she retired.  here is a picture of her at her 5 year service award banquet.  i thought she looked so pretty.

grandma on the right side

she was always so busy and so full of life.  you just never knew what the heck was going to come out of her mouth!  this picture is from 1991, but when i remember her...this is it!

she was one of the strongest women i know.  she loved everyone and she'd do anything for you.  i think she really experienced some hardships in her life, but who doesn't.  she never let those things get in the way and she wanted the best for her family.  i only hope i'll be half the woman she was.