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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

My Grandma's Wisdom

by George Nikoladze
Happy Fourth of July to all you Americans out there and on this Fourth I would like to remember my grandmother.

She was actually one of the first female managers at Lockheed and worked on projects she can still not talk about because of top secret status.  Yes my grandmother is a true American, but now I'm worried about losing her.

I was lucky enough to know my great grandmother on my mother's side and lost her around the age of fifteen.  Now I'm facing both of my grandmother's health issues, but mainly from my father's side.

My grandmother used to live about a quarter of a mile away from my childhood home, but now she rents an apartment about an hour and a half away from her closest family.  I keep telling her she can't take care of her aging friends when she has no one close to care for her.

She lived a hard life in Colorado, where her mother died around the age of 50 and my grandmother was left to care for her own small children and some of her siblings.  The older siblings were left to the state and suffered from horrible abuses and never truly forgave my grandmother for it.

Source: U.S. National Archives and
 Records Administration
Many stories lie beneath her wrinkles and she is a devoted Christian whose love and kindness is not tainted by extreme opinion.  There is still time to sit down with her and record her stories and even though she will never know I'm a witch I want to remember her as a person.

Elders die and we move on, but their knowledge can be lost forever and this is why I'm going to make an effort and try to record my grandmother's stories.  This would honor her and keep her alive in a way before she passes on to where she believes she will end up.

How do you honor your ancestors?  I know it's more of a Samhain question, but sometimes there is only so much time before they go.

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