General Chat

A lovely thread Brian, and how nice to share stories about our Grandparents, how I miss them every day... My Gran was the wise one, and Nanna was the cuddling one, Grandad's knowledge of the garden and the flowers and veg was endless, and his shed was fascinating, when you was 12yrs old!. They always had an answer to all your questions! but I could never understand how Gran could eat jelly with bread and butter! :))

Brian I have that story in a book I inherited from my Mum. It's called 'Grandma's Brag Book' and my Aunt in Canada sent it to her when my eldest son (her first grandchild) was born. She recorded all sorts in there, from when he stayed with her for the first time, through his first day at school, first job, girlfriend etc. They were very close, much closer than my other kids were with Mum. I love being a Grandma. My daughter bought me a plaque for my wall which reads 'Grandmas are just antique little girls'. This one is anyway! One of my most treasured possessions, and I wear it every day, is a bracelet made from plastic beads which spells Grandma. My grandson made it when he was 4 and I am so proud to wear it. When I was a child we stayed with my Nanny (Grandma) in the school holidays while Mum and Dad worked. She taught us to play Rummy, Cribbage and Newmarket using buttons for the stake. She was a dressmaker who worked from home and one of my earliest memories is the sound of her scissors cutting out material! My other Grandma (Nanny in Canada) used to send us parcels of goodies, especially sweets during rationing! I was the first of my friends to have a Barbie type doll with rooted hair, long before they were available in England. I didn't meet her until I was 8 when she first came to England for a holiday. It took her 5 days to sail over on the Empress of Britain, then she had to get the train from Liverpool to London, then a coach to Surrey - all on her own. I was so proud of her! She seemed really old to travel all that way on her own, but working it out now, she was only 60 - not much older than me now! LOL I hope my Grandchildren have as wonderful memories of me as I have of my two Nannies. Sue xx

My dad's mum was busy running a shop during the 1st world war when he was born and his dad was in the army. So his granny was a surrogate mum and he adored her. She was an excellent cook. He says that when talking films came in, his elder brothers took her to the cinema and were very excited about it. She wasn't so impressed "I've got to go home, I've got a pudding on the boil!" nell

OOps, i'd better put the mini skirts and stillettos away, stop dying my hair, put the weight back on, and go and get my teeth pulled. But the grandchildren love me anyway LOL sandra

I only had one gran (my mum's mum) and she lived a long drive away. I loved going to see her - my dad would toot his car before turning round at the end of the lane and by the time we'd parked, she would be jumping with excitement by the gate. My parents would take grandad down to the pub in the evening and Grannie would sit with us. She'd let us have our favourites from the box of chocs we'd bought her, let us watch what we wanted on tv, and taught me how to play Patience. Now I have found out more about her life I really regret not asking more about her life when she was around. At the age of 95 she had her hair permed for the first time and asked me if it made her look a bit fast!!! Now her daughter is grandmother to my sons - she has time for them and does all the grandmotherly things. Once when she was staying here looking after them overnight, my younger son (aged 3) got up in the night to go to the toilet. He went into her room on his way back, woke her up and said "Granny, are you dead?" For a moment she said she had to think "I don't know, am I?!" nell

You talking about me again Brian?????? lol

So very true, I loved my maternal Grandma very much, she died when I was seventeen. My other Granny had about forty Grandchildren and I only really got to know her when I was in my twenties. Grandmothers are like gold, they have to be treasured! Lindy;-))

OH I love being a Gran........

everyone thats has a gran should treasure her.mine died 6mths before i was born and the other lived in Ireland and died when i was 14 so i only saw her twice. since having children myself and seeing the very special relationship that my two have with their Grandma,it makes me sad to see what i missed out on, Karen

Grandmothers as seen thro’ the eyes of an eight year old. A grandmother is a woman, who has no children of her own, so she loves boys and girls of other people. Grandmothers have nothing to do; they only have to be there. If they take you for a walk, they go slowly past all the beautiful leaves and caterpillars. They never say ‘Come along quickly’, or ‘Hurry up for goodness sake’. They are usually fat, but not too fat to tie up my shoe laces. They wear spectacles and sometimes take out their teeth. They can answer any question, for instance, why dogs hate cats and why God is not married. When they read to us they never leave anything out and they do not mind if it’s the same story. Everyone should have a grandmother, especially those who do not have a television. Grandmothers are the only grown ups that have plenty of time. Anon My apologies if this has been on before. Brian (i)