Before I share the memories, you just gotta read some of the article:
BEIJING (Reuters) - A 107-year-old Chinese woman who was afraid to marry when she was young has decided to look for her first husband and hopes to find a fellow centenarian so they will have something to talk about, a Chinese paper reported.
Wang Guiying is worried she is becoming a burden to her aging nieces and nephews since breaking her leg when she was 102 and had to stop doing chores like washing her clothes.
"I'm already 107 and I still haven't got married," the Chongqing Commercial Times quoted her saying. "What will happen if I don't hurry up and find a husband?"
Do yourself a favor and read the whole article...Now, to the memories... (If I get any of this wrong, I expect my cousin Walt to correct me, as he is a tiny bit older than me, and his brain is not fried like mine) My Great Grandmother was born in 1890 in South Louisiana (in the country, outside of Lake Charles). She was known to all of us as "Granny Laura." She lived to the ripe old age of 104, passing on to Heaven in 1994.
She was the most interesting person that I ever knew. If I had the skills, I would write a book about her life, and it would sell about a million copies, and I could retire...but I don't. Granny Laura married quite old for the day that she lived in. She was in her 20's, and married my Great Grandfather Ross. He was a good-looking cuss (he had big ears like Obama, but still looked good). She was pretty cute herself...I have seen the old photos. It was funny...she was about 4' 10", and he was about 6' 3".
I loved Granny Laura so much! She and Ross moved all the way up here to the Shreveport area in the 1920's. Ross was a "Wildcatter," drilling oil wells on The Caddo Lease, and working to provide for an ever-growing family. They eventually bore 6 children (four are still living). Great Granddaddy Ross died in his 40's (during the Great Depression), and left Granny Laura the task of finishing up raising the kids.
When WWII broke out, her sons, Ross (my favorite Great Uncle due to the fact that I knew him better than the others, and he was just as odd as I am), Earl, Lee, and son-in-laws Bill (my Granddaddy) & C.H. (Walt's Daddy) all went off to fight the Japs. The girls all stayed home and lived in the same old house with Granny Laura...trying to hold everything together until we could drop a nuke on the Japs and the men could come home.
When I read what this 107-year-old Chinese woman said about "hurrying up" to get married, it just struck a chord. Granny Laura was a widow for about 60 years. As far as I know, she never cared to look for another man. She just did her thing...and man, did she do it well!
When I was a kid, there was nothing more fun than going up to Granny Laura's house. She was always so interesting, and had so much wisdom...but she wasn't "pushy" with her wisdom. She would answer questions, but didn't ram stuff down your throat so much. Man, the stuff I learned from her...man...
Up into her late 90's, I always wanted to be her partner when we were playing 42 (that's a domino game for those of y'all that don't live in the South). Man...she was sneaky...had a great poker face for the opponents, but could lift her eye-lid just right to her partner (it ain't cheating if you don't talk).
I have the greatest picture of her on her riding lawn-mower (a Wheel Horse model which she used to cut her grass into her early 90's) pulling her Great-Grandchildren, & Great-Great Grandchildren (two were my kids) in a cart. If I can ever get a scanner that works, I'll show it to y'all.
When she was about 102 she finally started to fail. The last time I saw her was about 6 months before she died in 1994. We were living far away, and had come back home for a visit. She still had those beautiful eyes...but when she looked at me it was like she was looking right through me...about a mile past my eyes. She asked me, "Andy, why doesn't God just let you die?" I came up with some worthless platitude, I'm sure. I knew I wouldn't see her again...at least here on Earth.
So, I have rambled along way too long...I gotta get a scanner so I can show y'all how beautiful she was.
Andy,
ReplyDeleteYou pegged Granny Laura. Don't forget that Uncle Lee also was in the Navy in WWII in the Pacific. In fact, he and your Grandfather, Bill served on the same ship, a sub tender named the Pelias for the last year or so of the war.
I, too, saw granny for the last time about six months before her passing. I hadn't seen her for about a year, and was shocked at the change I saw.
Her's is one of the very few funerals I have attended that was really a celebration of a well lived life. All there just felt fortunate to have known her.
Walt, silly me! I just saw Uncle Lee the other day, and for some reason it slipped my mind that he had served also. He doesn't talk about it as much as Earl, Granddaddy, & Ross did. I Have made the change.
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