Joan Smetana is an eighty-four year old, four foot ten, Catholic-German woman. She is sister to Mary-Ann Koenig wife to the late-Robert Smetana, and mother to Therese and Mary. She has five grandchildren, one of them in me. I love my grandmother, or as I call her: “Nana.” She is one of those woman that everyone loves, whether you know her or not; however, those who are closest to her, her family, tend to love her more from a distance, but love her none the less. She is literally the center of her family, as her house is in between the homes of her two daughters, otherwise known as my backyard and two streets over from my Aunt Mary. Eighteen years of growing up, knowing she was watching out her window for any sign of trouble and having …show more content…
Yes, I should call my grandmother more; yet, every time I pick up my phone and have all the intentions of calling her I usually get side tracked and it never happens or I chicken out because chances are I will learn about all these people who have died, knowing maybe one of them, and get lectured on why I should go to church, which to her knowledge I do every week. She also likes to call me fat and lecture me on all these diets that she heard about on the news and then, if I’m physically there, offers me cake or cookies or some other unhealthy food. When it comes to my grandmother she can make you feel like you caused the rainy day. She does what I would call and “open-face sandwich approach” to giving her thoughts. This means that she piles the fillings on with the insults and tells you everything, everything that is wrong with you or that you have done wrong, making you feel, continuing with the sandwich metaphor, bloated, horrible about yourself, and feeling sickly; however, she quickly concludes with something nice so that if you are not use to having the Catholic guilt, then this is where you go and have a good cry about life and then try to make up whenever “wrong” to my grandmother by: calling all the time, talking about all the dead people that she knows, agreeing with her on everything, and basically just making her feel like a queen until the you start to wear off again from her will
My grandma Linda was her only daughter. I spent weeks at Ma’s house in Holstein, Iowa. Christmas for the Grell’s was always hosted at Ma’s house. When I was young she would take me swimming at the communities pool, and ice cream afterwards. Ma’ was an expert cook, her favorite summer dish was fried chicken. She was nearly famous for that fried chicken. In September of 2012 Doctors discovered a tumor in Ma’s liver. Ma’s children paid for an assisted living home in Sioux City, Iowa. She pasted away March 21, 2013. Leading up to March the relationship between my mother and her parents decrepitated. My grandparents refused to come to my high school graduation.
and when Granny died the kids really had nowhere to go. “She (Lina) was grateful for Mrs
This life story is about the wonderful lady named Mrs. Doris Knight, who currently lives at the Assisted Living in Bourbonnais. The purpose of the project is to learn about Doris Knight’s life, her family, and changes she have seen. In the this paper, it will include Mrs. Doris’s childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, older adulthood, and other aspects of her life journey. Mrs. Doris knight would like to thank her children and family for being so gracious and helpful during her lifetime. Especially during this latest challenge. She is also thankful for the staff at the Assisted Living Bourbonnais nursing home who is providing her comfort and respect during this time.
Much like Helene Tucker, she is caring and compassionate Her life is an example of perseverance and strength. Her life is an inspiring one, she has always exuberated encouraging energy towards others. She supported me in all aspects of my life and believes in my abilities to accomplish my goals. All endeavors throughout my grandmother’s life have been symbolic of her success. Her hard work and perseverance represent true success to me.
She is the last of her kind, my grandmother. She had been practically raised in a Catholic school to learn the old Catholic ways. She is a part of the last Tohono O’odham Indians to be assimilated to such an institution and to live life according to those beliefs instilled within her. She has deviated from the stereotype that Native Americans are unenlightened drunkards. She is strong and steadfast in her faith. She is disciplined and hard-working. She has encountered much and there is nothing she cannot survive. My grandmother, she is the last of her kind.
Much like O’Connor, the grandmother in this short story was raised in a religious setting. This contributes to and defines the way in
Through life, we often lose someone we loved and cared deeply for and supported us through life. This is demonstrated by the loss of a loved one when Esther's father died when she was nine. "My German speaking father, dead since I was nine came from some
I was delighted and honored to carry out an interview with my 89 year old grandmother Marie Charles. It did not take much of an effort to establish a rapport with my interviewee; she was more than willing to open up to whomever that was willing to lend an open ear. Marie felt comfortable to share her life experiences with me, during the interview. Her demeanor exemplified one who is full of grace and compassionate towards others. Marie emigrated from Haiti and has been living in the United States for 45 years. She enjoyed her life experiences both within the states and in her native country of Haiti.
I search the pantry shelves for flour as my mother, Diana, flips through the notebook full of family recipes. It is a three-day weekend and we are spending the day off together. She finds the recipe for ginger cookies, or as we call them, Nannie cookies, named for my great-grandmother, a truly gifted cook. As we get the ingredients from the pantry, she begins to tell me stories about my great-grandmother Freda, who emigrated from Canada at (?) years old in 192(?) and worked as housekeeper to afford clothes and books for high school. My mother remembers that as an adult, Freda dragged herself around with crutches for a decade before she could get hip replacements in 197(?). Most in her position would have been bedridden. In later life, Freda
My grandmother’s parents immigrated to Johnstown, Pennsylvania from a small town in Poland close to Warsaw. As a young child she spoke two languages Polish at home and English when she went to school or with friends. Life started out very difficult and never really got any easier.. Her life continued to get worse when she lost her husband in a mining accident and her eldest son to a car accident. My grandma used to tell me the stories of their deaths, and how it taught her how strong she really is. She turned the hardships in her life into something beautiful, something joyous, and something sentimental. These moments shaped her into who she is, but they do not define her. These moments that she shares allow me to move on and find something joyful about every situation even if they are not be ideal. When my grandfather passed away my grandmother gave me the strength to look on the brighter side of the situation instead of the sad side.
*Author’s Note: I chose to write about my aunt, Montress, because she has always been more than an aunt towards to me. She is the person that I know that I can turn to when I need someone. She will do anything to help the people she loves, whether it’s taking care of me while my parents are away or helping me with a school project. She is the kindest, sweetest, and most wisest person I know and I’m very lucky to know such a person.
The family of an elderly woman named Ruth McKinley face many challenges. The McKinley family believes the only option in terms of meeting their needs is to place Ruth McKinley in hospice care. Although Stanley, Marcia, and Bethany share a great affection toward Ruth, because of many factors in their lives, they are unable to provide the care she needs for the sake of her well-being.
By the time any of us grandchildren or great grandchildren could walk, Grandma Opal had us learning how to check the hotwire fence on the farm with a screwdriver, in the garden planting and pulling the weeds or playing with the pets. Opal, who was actually my great grandmother had been like a grandmother to various others. Whenever her phone would ring, we would answer “Grandma’s house”, because the town of Maysville is not a very large, everyone knew her by grandma. I spent uncountable summers in Maysville as a child with my maternal grandparents, Terry and Char, and my great Grandma Opal. Now that she is gone, I have several, meaningful pieces of her life that no one else has. I inherited my Grandma Opal’s very fragile recipe box and her favorite embroidery patterns.
My interpretation of caregiving and the extensive role a caregiver plays transformed while reading Emily Abel’s novel, Hearts of Wisdom. When interviewing my grandmother, Marjorie Waguespack, her personal experiences reinforced many of the vital factors Abel believes are involved in caregiving. Caregiving includes major rewarding aspects from varying standpoints. Emily Abel wholeheartedly believes, “the three major components of care—instrumental, spiritual, and emotional—sometimes conferred significant rewards” (60). Caring for an individual can be difficult and may require substantial sacrifice, but oftentimes the benefits outweigh the costs. With these components, an extensive network of
My grandmother, Esther Turner, has impacted my life in more ways than just simply being there for me, as a grandmother. She’s much more than that, in my eyes. Being the eldest of three, I’ve always taken on more responsibility as the older sister. It was my job to show my little brother and sister which paths were safe to take in this wild, confusing maze called life. At times, I felt like a mother myself, and at a young age, I found myself slightly intimidated by all the responsibilities that were laid on my shoulders. The main person I could talk to freely and openly, without judgment, was my grandmother. We have always been able to speak to each other about any and everything, nothing was off limits. That’s what I think brought us so close, the fact that she accepted me entirely for the person I presented to her.