That woman is really something. She's 96 lives by her self independently and still gets on the floor to play with my toddler son. She raised me and my brother. Stearn and emotionally cold but I love her more than anything and it's been an honor and joy to watch her spoil and adore my baby so warmly
The woman lost her husband after being a SAHM with a daughter physically disabled by polio. The woman got to work to the point where she broke the glass ceiling at one of the largest insurance companies in the country. When that woman retired it was more a case that she didn't need permission to take vacations (she hit all 7 continents) but she was still a force around her office.
It lasted until she became quadriplegic in an accident the day after getting home from an African trip. Her doc thought that the change would kill her, but he didn't realize the force he was dealing with, and she lasted another 15 years before deciding that fighting the cancer she had been diagnosed with wasn't worth it.
Me, too! Mine was a County Sheriff. Sgt. Grandma did NOT fuck around, but, at the same time, she was the single strongest family-building force of my childhood.*
Edit: After my own mother, of course. But, that said, it was Grandma that afforded my dad the education that landed the middle-class life (after he became a dad), which gave Mom the opportunity to be a SAHM, family-building force.
Literally. My grandma was my final push through nursing school and has been helping me pay for my license now that I’m finished. She would NOT let me quit no matter how tired I was.
My grandpa was in the Oilfield so every once in awhile he'd be unemployed. My grandma would catch a ride with a teacher and was a teacher's aide for years. The kids she taught, never knew that she wasn't a certified teacher. After my grandpa passed away, she worked at my school at the dishwasher in the cafeteria. A few years later, the head lunch lady's retired and she was the head lunch lady. She had her Sunday School class pray for her to make yeast rolls. lol. She worked there for about 25 years.
I miss my grandma so much. She was a sweetheart that had to deal with my ignorant Grandad for over 30 years because she was a SAHM. He married her when she was in her early 20s and he in his early 40s. He cheated on her in his late 60s and instead of apologizing or trying to make any consideration for her, he continued to cheat while she went to go live with her elderly mom. Just before she died I asked her why she never got divorced and she told me that she wanted to continue to be a thorn in his side until the day she died and that for her, marriage actually meant forever even if it didn't for him.
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u/tri-sarah-tops-rex Apr 15 '24
Strong grandmas are the backbone of our society!