My grandmothers were interesting, lol.
My dad's mom was definitely on the spectrum. Of course back then, for people who had money, they just called it "eccentric"
. My dad doesn't tell stories about his childhood so I don't know what she like then, just when I knew her. I know she never cooked or cleaned though; they had a maid for that. After my grandpa died her brother (who is probably gay but that wasn't spoken of. His "best friend" was around a lot though) moved in and he took care of the house and car. She wasn't allowed to smoke in the rest of the house so she had a back room with a TV and a couch and she spent most of her day sitting back there chain-smoking and playing Tetris on her Gameboy. She had scheduled times to go sit out on the porch for fresh air and sun, coordinated with TV shows she didn't care for. She enjoyed watching QVC but I don't think she ever ordered anything (unless her brother sent it all back, idk. There were no QVC items in the house though). She fussed over her cats a lot; their food and water had to be prepared just right. The female cat would ONLY drink from a Dixie cup filled to the very top. She had a different restaurant for every night of the week, and she'd get mad if her regular waiter/waitress wasn't there, or if, god forbid, someone else was sitting at HER table. She'd wait for her table if she had to. She had a strict daily schedule for her afternoons before dinner: the hairdresser one day, her friend's house the next, the bookstore the next, etc. I really wonder how she got by being a Captain's wife back in the '50s, with the social expectations, but she drank a lot back then so that's probably how.
My mom's mom was a real fireball. She was in the WAC during WWII and was an Admiral's secretary after the war, until she got pregnant. She said the Admiral cried when she told him she was pregnant, because women weren't allowed to stay in the military after they had kids back then, and she basically ran his office, so he depended on her a lot, and liked her too, apparently. I think if it was up to her she never would have gotten married or had kids. She hated my grandpa and didn't care for children, and was fairly vocal about it. But that's what was socially expected of her, so she did. She had 6 kids but didn't raise them after the first 4 years or so when they moved overseas where domestic help was cheap and easy to find, so the "maid" raised the rest of the kids, and cooked and cleaned. She was a government official's secretary after they made her get out of the military, worked 50 hours a week and retreated to her bedroom with "a migraine" after work and on weekends. Probably just didn't want to deal with the kids. She kept saying she was going to divorce my grandpa but never did. She had good reason to though; he was a jerk. After she retired she managed the books for several different ladies' clubs, like the Rebekahs and the Eastern Star, etc. Always busy, always social. She also had a sharp tongue and you always knew what she thought of you or any given situation.
But I never had grandmas who cooked/baked and were cuddly and sweet or anything.
My dad's mom was definitely on the spectrum. Of course back then, for people who had money, they just called it "eccentric"
. My dad doesn't tell stories about his childhood so I don't know what she like then, just when I knew her. I know she never cooked or cleaned though; they had a maid for that. After my grandpa died her brother (who is probably gay but that wasn't spoken of. His "best friend" was around a lot though) moved in and he took care of the house and car. She wasn't allowed to smoke in the rest of the house so she had a back room with a TV and a couch and she spent most of her day sitting back there chain-smoking and playing Tetris on her Gameboy. She had scheduled times to go sit out on the porch for fresh air and sun, coordinated with TV shows she didn't care for. She enjoyed watching QVC but I don't think she ever ordered anything (unless her brother sent it all back, idk. There were no QVC items in the house though). She fussed over her cats a lot; their food and water had to be prepared just right. The female cat would ONLY drink from a Dixie cup filled to the very top. She had a different restaurant for every night of the week, and she'd get mad if her regular waiter/waitress wasn't there, or if, god forbid, someone else was sitting at HER table. She'd wait for her table if she had to. She had a strict daily schedule for her afternoons before dinner: the hairdresser one day, her friend's house the next, the bookstore the next, etc. I really wonder how she got by being a Captain's wife back in the '50s, with the social expectations, but she drank a lot back then so that's probably how.My mom's mom was a real fireball. She was in the WAC during WWII and was an Admiral's secretary after the war, until she got pregnant. She said the Admiral cried when she told him she was pregnant, because women weren't allowed to stay in the military after they had kids back then, and she basically ran his office, so he depended on her a lot, and liked her too, apparently. I think if it was up to her she never would have gotten married or had kids. She hated my grandpa and didn't care for children, and was fairly vocal about it. But that's what was socially expected of her, so she did. She had 6 kids but didn't raise them after the first 4 years or so when they moved overseas where domestic help was cheap and easy to find, so the "maid" raised the rest of the kids, and cooked and cleaned. She was a government official's secretary after they made her get out of the military, worked 50 hours a week and retreated to her bedroom with "a migraine" after work and on weekends. Probably just didn't want to deal with the kids. She kept saying she was going to divorce my grandpa but never did. She had good reason to though; he was a jerk. After she retired she managed the books for several different ladies' clubs, like the Rebekahs and the Eastern Star, etc. Always busy, always social. She also had a sharp tongue and you always knew what she thought of you or any given situation.
But I never had grandmas who cooked/baked and were cuddly and sweet or anything.
