It has been a Family Weekend. Not only did I celebrate my father-in-law's 70th birthday, but I had a dinner with my Grandma Zen (GZ) and a lunch with my Grandma Glen (GG). I realize how fortunate I am to still have two healthy grandmothers. I choose to celebrate this here. However, because these ladies have over 181 years between them, to tell you ALL about their lives might come across as me writing their eulogies! This is nowhere on the horizon so you shall only learn some tidbits...
Grandma Zen (Zenith) is 88 years young and, for my whole life, whenever we have spent time together she has worn me out! Our claim to fame, when she lived in Edmonton up until 2 years ago, was that we went to the Edmonton Fringe festival together for 18 summers consecutively. (And now the much smaller, lesser known Calgary Fringe for the past two years.) If you know anything about Fringe theatre, this means our seeing and hearing some pretty racy, alternative and......bizarre pieces. Luckily neither she nor I are easily offended and we stumbled upon both some masterpieces and some horrors over the years. Almost enjoying both equally! Other than theatre we also still enjoy golfing together. My favourite part is being paired with a couple of guys who eye us warily, then GZ stepping up to the tee and driving it almost 200 yards straight down the middle. She is a go-getter. We've seen lots of movies, been to many CFL games (where I quietly did NOT cheer for her Eskimos), played Skip-Bo and done crossword puzzles for hours while she filled me in on either the Young and the Restless or the Bachelor. I inherited her love of shoes, carbs and her dislike of vegetables, although she avoids them much more diligently than I do. Some of her hand-me-downs even hang in my closet. We had a nice dinner last night, where she plied Derek and I with wine prior, and we anticipated her upcoming trip to Arizona. There's no slowing GZ down!
Grandma Glen (Glenora) has lived in Calgary for over 10 years now but, prior, my grandparents had a farm between Bowden and Innisfail where my dad grew up. My brother and I were so fortunate to spend much time there when we were kids. Although I didn't technically become a "city kid" until I was 20, growing up in Cochrane did not afford me opportunities, otherwise, to see calves be born, shoot tin cans with a .22 or drive a combine. She was a busy lady back on the farm and has hardly slowed down now. (Why should she, she's only 93?!) We tease her today about how quickly she walks down the hallways with her walker. Seriously, it's like she's in a race! This afternoon after lunch she beat me once at Scrabble although I took her down in the second match. We enjoy going out for Chinese buffets or breakfasts together, watching curling and reminiscing about the prankster who was my grandpa. She's optimistic, bright, social and tough as nails. All traits I hope I have, thanks to her.
I spent a lot of time with, and remember well, 3 great-grandparents and all 4 of my grandparents. It is not lost on me how lucky I am to still be able to share time with these two fantastic women, having them live nearby, both still thriving through their veteran years. It is also not lost on me how lucky I am to share their DNA. I'm just painfully aware that I need to start saving a lot more money if I'm going to be as healthy for as long!!
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