Grandma McD

This was my dad's mom after she remarried and was widowed for the second time. We used to go visit when I was a small child and sometimes she would come out and stay with us. It was always interesting visiting Grandma McD. She didn't like children very much, but she seemed to like me ok. My cousins weren't treated nearly as well as I as by her which I am thankful for I guess. I can't honestly say I liked her all that much though either. She was a pretty hard core alcoholic actually. She would come out to stay with my parents and I and have my mom wait on her hand and foot.

There is a story that one time when my 3 cousins went up to her front door and knocked and she turned them away. Can you imagine turning away your own grandchildren? I believe the deal was she told them that they could come to the house when ever the curtains were drawn open... and wouldn't you know from then on she kept them closed... bizarre really.

Anyways, the house she lived in was the same one my dad and Aunt grew up in. It was a pretty small house, 2 bedrooms and an attic with a back closed in porch room. I remember going over there as a small child to visit. She had a lot of stuff, but my favorite things that she had were the bobble head dolls she had on her desk. I used to play with those every time I went there. I believe they belonged to my Grandfather before he passed. I do sometimes wonder what ever happened to those bobble heads. I wonder if my cousins ended up with them after she passed away.

One time when she came out to stay with us, she was sitting at the kitchen table drinking, mom was cooking something, and I was playing on the kitchen floor. I think I was about 3. She asked, "Joellyn, can you go get my cigarettes for me please?" I hated smoke with a passion and both my parents smoked as well. I would pretend to be choking out in the backseat on car trips I despised it so much. I did like the case my Grandma kept her cigarettes in though. It was like a metal fabric, and was fun to play with. Well, I didn't mean to be as utterly defiant as I ended up, but I looked er straight in the eye and said, "No." My mother was mortified, but at the same time she was kind of hiding a smile. I think that it's still one of my mom's favorite stories.

Grandma McD passed away when I was 7 years old from a heart attack. I remember when I found out. I was at Brownies and my mom came and pulled me out. Grandma had a heart attack while she was on the phone with a friend and passed away right there in her living room chair. It was my first experience with death. I remember being at the funeral home during viewings and wanting to wear a special outfit that she had gotten for me. I don't remember crying, but I did miss her. I would have liked to know her now just to see how she was through grown up eyes.

We had to clean out her house after a couple weeks and my parents and my aunt and uncle were fixing the place up to rent out. They did a ton of work on it. My mom and aunt steamed off something like 15 layers of wallpaper in order to prep the walls to paint. The only thing I got from my grandma was her bedroom set which actually lives at my parent's house. So basically, I got nothing from her. My cousins and aunt got most all of her jewelry and my mom got some, Grandma liked to collect costume jewelry, and I have no idea what ever became of those bobble heads.