Higs’s grandma, Helen, is a very intriguing woman. Higs says (oh-so affectionately) that she’s stubborn and bull-headed, yet wise with experience. In the 14 years that Higs & I have known each other, his Grandma has always been a consistent figure in his family’s life. She’s always had more energy than I thought someone her age could ever have. Up until a few years ago, Higs would often stop by to say hi and find her climbing trees on a mission to trim the branches. While she’s reserved in most situations and is content to sit and take things in, she also has a stubborn streak. She’s not angry-old-lady-stubborn, but more so that when she’s got an opinion about something, she’s not afraid to let it be known.
It amazes me to really sit and think about all that she’s witnessed and experienced in her 88 years. She’s told stories of how she flew from Pittsburgh to San Diego when she was 19 to see her brother off to WWII and took a train back across the country by herself. During the war, she had a jobs as a welder and then worked for a company developing artificial rubber as a war effort. Her employer offered to send her to study chemistry at The University of Pittsburgh, but she declined because her husband had just returned from the war and she decided to stay home to be a housewife and raise two daughters, one of them being Higs’s mom. It’s pretty crazy to think about how different her life, and ours, would be if she had taken them up on that offer. Would Higs even be here?
These hands, which have done everything from shake hands with President Kennedy to hold her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are still accepting of whatever experinces life brings their way.
I wonder if, when she was our age, that she could imagine her life as a grandmother and great-grandmother, because that’s something I just can’t seem to wrap my head around. Right now I can’t picture us being her age and watching Nolan’s kids have kids. I’m having a hard time just realizing that he’ll be moving to the 18-24-month old room at school next month. It really puts a lot of things into perspective when you think about how much we really experience throughout our lives. One thing I do know for certain is that she’s enjoying every minute she gets to spend her family, which is beautiful to watch.
We love her and all of the spunk that comes with her 88 years of experience. She really should write a memoir.
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