A Moment In Time

I was recently reading a blog that a friend wrote on his photo of his Grandmother house, and it got me to thinking about my own Grandmother, or I should say Grandma, as this is what I called her.

Unlike a lot of kids I knew who had a two sets of Grandparents, I only had one My Grandma and Bub. Yeah we called my Grandfather "Bub", I don't really know why but its what I always called him. But anyways I cherished these people.

Grandma was a tough old broad. She could cook virtually anything and made it all taste great. Being a fat kid I loved going to Grandma's house because there was always something good to eat. She taught me that is always OK to ask questions, because its the only way to get the answers. She taught me to experiment when cooking because you never what you may create. The taught me how to say "Beer" and "Thank You" In Portuguese's so when I went to Brazil I could have fun but be polite while doing it.

She was a fountain of strength and respect. She spoke here mind quite liberally and with a swear here and there. She love to listen to public radio stations in which she cursed whatever politician was making an ass of himself currently. She was the yin to my grandfathers yang. If opposites attracted they were living proof of it.

But my Grandma had a secret. She had a soft side. I side I never really saw until I read a diary. It was a diary that she started the day my father left for Vietnam and ended when she got the telegram about his being seriously wounded. I found it one time when I was staying over here house and was looking for something to read. Once opened and could not put it down.

The diary is fairly short and take place in a little less than a year of periodic entries. In it she only makes entries when she gets communications from my Dad. They are basic and to the point, but they captured a feeling of what she was going through at the time. It conveyed to me alot of raw emotion that I never really saw in her before. The worry and love of a mother for her son.

I never told her that I read this diary. A bit ashamed that I was reading such private things. But when she passed and my Dad called me to ask if there was anything of hers I wanted, I asked only for this diary for it held to me a moment in time for my Grandma and my Dad, and I will cherish it forever.

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