Grandmas

As the end of the year draws to a close and graduation becomes an imminent reality and not just a thing of the future, I spend a lot of time thinking about my family. In about two weeks, both my paternal and maternal grandparents will fly across the ocean in order to attend my graduation. As much as I eagerly anticipate their visit and seeing them again, four grandparents for a week will bring about a lot of "family time."

My paternal grandparents arrive first. At my bat mitzvah several years ago, my maternal grandparents stayed at my house while the paternal grandparents were put up in a hotel. Now it is my parental grandparents' turn.

My Grandma Jackie is my dad's step-mother, but the only grandmother on that side that I have known. My dad's mother, Grandma Helen, was killed by a drunk driver when my father was two. I have her middle name, her petite stature, and her love of language. Grandma Jackie is a former fashion model, and despite the face that it seems as though she is always going to doctor's appointments and getting prescribed new medicines, she is as glamorous as ever. She and I share our passions for horseback riding and baking. I have seen photos of Grandma Jackie back from the days when she modeled. She wasn't tall enough to do runway, but did a great deal of catalogue and editorial magazine shoots. In each photo, her complexion is flawless, her hair shiny, and her waist so tiny that I don't doubt that my hands would fit around it. Even now, she carries herself with poise, in spite of her thick Brookyln accent. I remember she got my an "eyebrow brush" when I was ten years old. I didn't even know women groomed their eyebrows yet.

My Grandma Phyllis is my mom's mom. She is the mother of four children (my mother being the youngest) and her family is clearly the most important part of her life. She makes her twelve grandkids, four children, and four children-in-law her priorities. She knows when any of us have a tennis tournament, a standardized test or a dance recital. What I love about my grandma, is no matter the circumstance or how soon it will be until we see her again, she always cries when she says goodbye to my family after the end of a visit. When she was 18 she went away to attend college, however her mom died during her first year, and Grandma Phyllis moved back home and went to a nearby college to help her dad raise her two younger siblings. I've always admired that.

I love both of my grandmas, and as different as they are, they both have the ability of being able to make me laugh. I'm sure that my graduation lunch won't be an exception, and I feel blessed to have two such amazing women in my family to look up to.