Satire, it's the new black.

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Good bye grandma.

After many years of toughing it out, my grandmother died today. She survived a lot of wild stuff in her days and after the stroke, the home stretch was no picnic. But man, what a lady. She survived WW2 on Malta and immigrated to the US soon after.

Her life as an immigrant (as anyone could guess) wasn't glamourous, but to me she always was. Like only a grandma can, she loved to spend time with me and we spent hours upon hours playing Pinochole - a game reserved for her and the few family members who know that I can play, but mostly just for her. When you are a kid, adults are awfully mysterious and the only thing that matters is when they want to spend time with you - and she often did.

She was always making sure we were well fed. I was told long before I could know what it meant to never go without food because you never know when you will have to go without it. Later, my grandfather told me some stories of what it was like to live on an island in a war. So, I stopped complaining.

I guess there's a lot that will pass on with her, things like the lullabye that I can still hear her sing, but have no idea what it is because I don't understand Maltese (except for the things my grandfather used to call me). The baked pasta that had the specific density of lead but tasted so good you always had at least two hunks. The way she could smile and let you know that this old lady with one working leg can still see right through you and you aren't getting away with shit, so don't think that you are, but, it's OK because I'm not going to tell anybody.

Would have been nice if she could have lived longer, but she was done and I'm just damn lucky to have what I got which in the end was quite a bit.

If this whole post makes a little less sense than it should, it's because I need to get all the details together for the family to get to Detroit... probably for the last time as there isn't really a reason to go anymore.

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