New Age Grandma-Part III

Grandma saw people's auras, talked about astrology signs and charts, and whose moon was in what phase. I was a "Sagittarius", she said. That's why I loved to write, draw and sing and there were "special things in store" for me, according to my chart. When we weren't with her, she would send us "loving thoughts." If we hurt ourselves, she would hold a healing hand over the wound until the pain was gone. She told us about our "guardian angel" who watched over us at all times. Every time we had a near miss as she was driving in her usual erratic manner, our 'guardian angel' was taking care of us.

She had a wonderful sense of humor and would tell me jokes that I remember to this day. As we passed a cemetery she would say, "People are dying to go there!" Grandma was educated so she made sure that we used proper English. If I said I was "done eating", she would tell me I was not a turkey in the oven, so I was not "done" but "finished." It was Grandma who taught me to never end a sentence with a preposition. Every year Grandma would take us for a week's vacation in Laguna Beach. We'd stay in a house on the shore, and play for hours in the warm sunshine as we turned into brown Coppertone Kids. While driving around Laguna, we'd wave to the old man known as the "Greeter" who stood on that corner year after year, and seemed to recognize us every time we were in town because he would wave!

When Grandma came to our house for a visit, she always had a gift for everyone. The packages were gaily wrapped and tied with pretty bows, and seldom had name tags or cards attached. As a result, she relied upon her memory to hand out the gifts. We would anticipate great things as we opened the box and discovered something like the latest emerald green leisure suit she meant to give to her husband for Christmas! She would take back the present and forget to bring the one she had intended for us, until several visits later when the item was now outgrown. Each and every time Grandma visited, she misplaced her car keys and we spent at least one hour looking for them when she was ready to leave.