My eldest sister Joan was a teacher, so she taught me to read and write before my 4th birthday. My sister Jackie was a dressmaker so she sewed all my clothes, as well as my Cindy doll's clothes and my next sister, Jenny actually paid me to make her a cup of coffee every night when she got home from work
Of course, I wasn't above bribery too...
Like the time I caught Joan smoking out in the front yard...$$$
or the time I spyed on Jenny when she and her boyfriend were canoodling on the lounge when Mum wasn't around...$$$
Or all the times I wanted to go out with one of my sisters and their boyfriends....Having big sisters made me feel very special sometimes!
Of course, there was a downside to all this...
that was the fact that Mum had "been there and done that" with the sisters, so things like school excursions, cake stalls, education weeks, etc were very "ho-hum" in our household full of women, so when I came home all excited about an art show at school, I shouldn't have been at all surprised to find that no one really cared...It wasn't any one's fault, Mum was tired from working all week and it was impossible for her to commit to things like canteen or chaperoned on an excursion, she had done all those things for so many years and now Mum had to work to keep a roof over my head and the sisters were busy having lives and working...but one of them would often attend a function with me.
but there was ALWAYS Grandma!!!!!
My Grandma was an amazing lady! As a child, she was so small, she earned the nickname, Dolly. Her family called her that all her life. I actually thought that was her name and one day when a letter came for 'Mary Gladys Graham', I had no idea who it was for!
She nursed my grandfather, who had suffered ill health since he was gassed in the trenches by the Germans in WW1. She took care of her sister, Belle who lost her hearing when she was 7 - and then some 80 years later, sitting by Belle's hospital bed after making the daily train trip from Pendle Hill to Lidcombe, just to read the paper to her dying sister. (so she knew what was going on in the world!) She held her sister Edie in her arms as she died.from pneumonia. She held her 9 year old daughter in her arms as she died from a burst appendix...this was one tough lady! So wrangling her youngest granddaughter, was a piece of cake....
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| from left: Jenny, Grandma, Me (Pip), Mum |
Now Mum was onto me. She knew every trick in my 9 year old's repertoire, but Grandma...well, I tell you, she thought I was amazing! Oh, I forgot to mention what a great actress she was!! Patiently, Grandma would sit and marvel at my appalling tricks, clapping and cheering me on. Of all the people in and out of my young life, I always felt safe and loved by her.
I used to hang around Grandma every chance I got. When I think about it, she taught me how to cook, sew, knit, clean, pretty much everything a female needed to know. But she taught me so much more than that. I learned much more valuable things like patience, understanding, humility and selflessness from her.
Grandma even carted me off to Church! When everyone else was snoring their heads off, me and Grandma would be belting out hymns down at the Methodist Church... On Mondays, she would sit at the kitchen table with the grocer, Mr. Dobson and give him the grocery order. So quietly spoken was she, but all the while keeping tabs on every penny he was charging her...haha
So thinking about it, while I had so many strong female influences in my life and trust me, I was surrounded by them! My Grandmother stands out....
On days when hurt and anger makes it near impossible for me to want to open my eyes, let alone get out of bed and face the daily dose of crap that has been dished up to me lately,
I try to think of Grandma.
Nothing ever phased her. Nothing stopped her and nothing ever stood in her way.
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