Member-only story
The Woman I Called Mom: Remembering My Grandmother’s Love on Mother’s Day
A Tribute to the Woman Who Shaped My Life
She Was Always There
My grandmother was a constant presence in my life.
She was quick to crack a joke and had a wicked sense of humor. Her mischievous smile traveled all the way from her cheeky grin to the crinkle at the corners of her ice blue eyes.
She was stunning in her youth, tall and slim, standing at 5’9”. In her heyday she could stop traffic. She always dressed to the nines, hair coiffed, makeup immaculate, a picture of perfection.
She was a divorcee and a single mom with two young boys in the 1940’s — a time when divorce was taboo. My grandfather fell in love with her at first sight, smitten from the beginning even though his parents vehemently protested when he wanted to marry her.
I’m glad his strong German will prevailed and he married her despite his parent’s objections.
A Humble Beginning
My grandmother was born in 1923 in a place called Big Mud or Mud Mouth, Kentucky.
Her father was a coal miner. He died from typhoid fever before her 2nd birthday at the age of twenty-six. Her mother was three months pregnant…
