On the Occasion of Her 95th Birthday: Grammy and Her Giggles

My Grammy turns 95 today. This precious woman of strength and dignity with a giggle that lights up the entire room. I think most of her grandkids would say it’s one of their favorite sounds.

Ninety-five years has certainly brought a lot of giggles but also a lot of heartbreak. A WW2 nurse, she was abandoned by her first husband to raise four kids alone just when life should have been settling into a predictable groove. One of three from an Irish Catholic family, Grammy was resourceful and independent enough to persevere during those years of mothering alone while working full-time as a nurse until she met my Grandad, who carried his own heartbreak as a widower with three boys. He was the one who introduced her to Jesus – not the Jesus of dos and donts and works that she had learned as a girl. But the Jesus who loved her and pursued her and would meet all the awe of a holy God with His own righteousness on her behalf. She gave into the overwhelming flood of His grace then and has spent the rest of her life unlearning old legalisms in order to really KNOW Him more fully.

When she married my Grandad, they become one family of nine in the big, brick house on Longmere. Somehow they managed to let God take their two torn and broken stories and weave them into one beautiful tapestry. There would be more heartbreak and challenge over the years. But their tapestry would become richer and more intricate over time as they learned to truly love each other and wrangle their growing family. Seven children meant lots of grandkids and great-grandkids to love.

That’s my place in the tapestry. Grandkid #3. I spent a lot of Saturdays in their home exploring and doing projects with Grammy or yapping on and on at Grandad. They were the kind of grandparents who tried to make it to our ballgames and took us for homemade ice cream for no reason. They have always presided over our big family gatherings – we had many over the years. In my adult years I have been privileged to live near them again and see them often.

Today, they always have Milano cookies in the kitchen. Back in the day, they had a knobby rug at the top of their basement steps, apple juice in the frig, and sunflower seeds in the cupboard.

Grammy wrote the best letters when you went away to camp or on a missions trip – or moved away. And, she was always taking care of someone – more people have lived in that basement of theirs than I can count. When any of her children or grandchildren suffered, she suffered along with them emotionally and prayerfully. And, then there was Carmella whom she nursed through years until muscular dystrophy took her life.

It’s funny the things that standout as vivid memories. Snapshots in time that will always stick with me. Of course, I remember other silly things like that she used to be able to make the Donald Duck voice. Or that she could fearlessly kill a Banana Spider between her thumb and pointer finger. Oh, and, I am her Padawan in the ways of the binder clip – that woman could write a book about the many, varied uses of binder clips. Her ability to find a way to reuse or fix something is unrivaled – probably a skill honed during her single mom days. Grandad was always the spender. She tells me that her own Dad was a very frugal guy and that’s where she learned it. But through it all – she has always giggled as she observed the idiosyncrasies of life. Always that giggle. Like she is just truly tickled by the joys of this life.

Her body is starting to fail her and it’s tough for her to get out of the house now. But her eyes are bright and that giggle… it’s not contained to one house. It has a way of sticking with you around town.

In fact, I’m hoping to go get a bit of it later today myself. Happy Birthday Grammy! I know in some ways you’re ready to go meet your Lord face to face. But, I for one, am glad to have the giggle with us a bit longer.