Grandma Clara

I never really got to know either of my grandmother's very well. I never did a weekend stay over with either one and I probably only see them twice, maybe three times a year. I always hated that I never really was close to either one, but that's just the way things were. I did however get to claim my best friend L's grandmother.

You may remember (or not) my many posts of memories with L. my childhood best friend and that I was pretty much the the fourth sister in their family as wherever they were I was too.

Lucky for me I got to make weekend trips with L. to visit her aunt S. and grandma Clara. I also got to stay a week a each summer with just L. and her grandma. She really made the best memories for us by just doing her regular thing by either working in the garden, taking us to the bowling alley where she would bowl on her league or taking us to eat at her preferred places to eat. She always went for her daily walks and drank her daily gallon of water every day long before drinking water was the "in" thing to do. She was the epitome of health for a grandma and never had any major health problems.

The best memory I have of Grandma Clara was when she was driving us around and we were begging her to buy us something or take us somewhere I can't remember which and she was telling us that these things cost money and how where we going to get the money? Of course being a little smart aleckie I said "We'll get a job!" She teased with us and said we could go get a job at Mcdonalds washing dishes. At this time we were probably 9 or 10 a little to young for hired work. Grandma started acting serious about taking us to the local Mcdonalds so we could get a job and I of course was playing along with her and said "of course I'll go and work at McDonalds."
Grandma pulled into the Mcdonalds parking lot and told me to go ahead and get out and get to work. I really thought she was joking around but she started meaning business or it seemed like it. If I was going to play this game then she was too. I went ahead and got out of the car to be "funny". As soon as I shut the door she drove off. Needless to say my jaw hit the floor. Was she really going to drive off and leave me here at McDonalds all by myself?!

I didn't know what to do at this point. Do I go in, do I stay out here? Is she gonna come back? Just as I started to get a little bit concerned, here she came pulling back around the corner. I jumped in the car so fast and there was Grandma and L. laughing their heads off at me. I began to laugh too. I think we were laughing so hard our sides ached.

God bless Grandma Clara as she was the grandma that I always wanted and in my heart will really be my grandma. I know back in those days she did claim me as one of the granddaughters. I feel so honored and blessed to be a part of that.
Grandma passed away last week after battling complications from a stroke and Alzheimer's. She will truly be missed, yet I know she is watching over, not only her two daughters, her 3(4) granddaughters, and now her 2 great granddaughters.

When I last saw her a year and half or so ago after L's baby girl was born. She remembered me and it tickled me when L. was telling her "Grandma, what do you think of Jeanie having all these wild boys?" She just gave a knowing smile and probably was chuckling a little inside too.