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MY CHEERFUL GRANDMOTHER Stine Hølmkær Pedersen |
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My grandmother is a thrifty woman. She is a so-called 'collector 'and
she keeps everything from the finest china, (her living-room is
adorned with Christmas plaques from as far back as 1960) to
second-hand wrapping paper. Not a Christmas goes by without us
bringing a bag of gift wrap and ribbbon with us, remnants from
Christmas Eve presents, when we come to Grandma´s for lunch on Boxing
Day. In that way, Grandma is assured of one more present and she is as
excited about it as a child. You can be sure that the best of the
paper will be used again next Christmas. I think I have inherited her 'collector gene' as I have a tendency to hoard things too, just in case.... But I often think I keep too much, so then I tidy up a bit only to find something new which might be of use at a later stage. The older generation and my grandma, who is almost 70, could be called ' recyklers ', whereas my generation can be characterized as 'consumers '. It hit me recently that I can´t remember a single time where grandma was sad or cross. She has always been the ' cheerful grandmother type ', a proper grandmother. She has good strong legs with only a few varicose veins, a soft round tummy from having borne 3 children, a full bosom and soft but worn hands; she has done her fair share of work through the years. Apart from a few small disabilities, it is impossible to see or notice that she has had a tough life. Her unbelievable appetite for life is completely infectious affecting all around her. There is always a smile on her face and she loves to give hugs, which reminds me that as a teenager, I turned off on all that hugging and kissing. But that was just a passing phase - everyone needs a good foot massage or a warm hug now and again. The young women of today have suffered a lot at the hands of the media. At one stage, fashion models had become way too thin. Happily, this image of women is finally changing. The curvy female figure is finally on the way in again. I have often stood in front of the mirror, visualizing myself with smaller thighs or a flatter stomach but I´m probably a size XS compared to my grandmother and yet I have never suspected my grandma of being ashamed of her body, so why should I ? No, I am going to enjoy my life just like she enjoys hers. She married ny grandad prcisely 50 years ago. She met him in Ølgod where he lived at the time. They moved futher north to settle in a country village where 'everybody knows everybody '. They must really have been made for each other because they act like they are still in love. It is so reassuring and heartwarming to see them together; it gives one hope that love is still possible in a world where divorce is more common than marriage. It is plain to see from their daily routine that their relationship is something very special. Their eyes light up when they see each other and grandma still gets a friendly slap on the bottom from grandad. We took them on their first charter holiday to the sun last autumn. It was also their very first plane journey. What an event! I have flown with my parents so often that it isn´t a novelty to me any more but it was the most fantastic experience for my grandmother. She was so relieved and happy that we were with them on this, their first flight, otherwise they might never have done it. She spoke about the trip for a long time in advance and I am sure she told all the pensioners in the club about the planned holiday. Whilst the rest of us leaned back with a good book , my grandparents sat upright in their seats and followed intensely in the cabin crew´s safety instruction routine. They are both hard of hearing and because the noise-level in the plane was high throughout the flight, they kept asking "what are they saying now?" and "is anything wrong?". By the time we were in the air, they had managed to relax a bit by looking out the window. There they were, sitting there like two small children, totally engrossed in the view. Being with them on that trip put a lot of things in perspective for me. It was easy to see how quickly the world had changed and developed. They stood there in the little greek restaurant and ordered their meal in Danish. After a spell of body-language and pointing of fingers, they finally got their food. Maybe they could have made a trip like that on their own but I am convinced they never would have gone at all, had we not gone with them. It makes me very happy to think that they have had the opportunity to experience something which the rest of us take for granted and they did it with our help. My grandmother was in great spirits throughout the entire holiday. She said repeatedly that everything was " simply wonderful ". For them it was the trip of a lifetime, whereas for me, one trip resembles another. It´s all one big trip, because as soon as you arrive back home, you fall quickly back into your boring daily routine. When I call grandma to get some culinary advice, she starts to talk about the trip as if it happened yesterday. Yes, she is also an expert on the art of cookery. There is nothing better than a glass of homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam or a jar of cookies from grandma´s kitchen. And every time I need some kind of little gift for someone, she is the one to approach "Why, yes, of course dear ", she usually answers, "I have something right here in the drawer ". Translated from Danish to English by Maureen Eriksen |
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