My Eccentric Grandma Grace

Posted on July 24, 2014 by

One of Grandma Grace's dress designs.

One of Grandma Grace’s dress designs.

My mom lives in an old adobe cottage originally  purchased by my great-grandparents. For three generations this tiny home has been the place people go to live when they’re done with the big city, or just need a change. I’ve been told that Grandma Grace loved stone houses; maybe it was their solidity that drew her to them, or the way one feels so anchored to that place when sitting by the fire on a cool summer afternoon. Maybe it was just her opinionated spirit, a woman who knew what she wanted-I’ll never really know for sure.

Grandma Grace has always been a sort of eccentric shadow in my life. Although she and Pops moved to California in the 1940s, the adobe wasn’t the first house she bought on the California coast; legend has it that she was a huge fan of log cabins, and chose one as a summer vacation spot long before she made the move from St. Louis. Some people say it’s still haunted; personally, I believe them. Spirits like hers don’t just leave easily.

She was a small woman, with a huge personality. Not many women in the early 1900s had the courage to start their own business and employ their husbands in their dress designing company, but Grandma Grace did. She was the original entrepreneur, starting off by sewing her own clothes, then churning that home business into a successful design company. I still have boxes of lace and buttons she left behind, lingering like shadows of a world I never knew.

When I think of women in the 1940s, I think about a culture which required civility, meekness, and a certain sort of knowing one’s place in the world. I’m not sure I would have survived. At that time, women were unlikely to be the head of a household, own businesses or be divorced – and my Grandma Grace was all three. Of course, she ultimately remarried my great-grandfather, with my grandmother as her maid-of-honor; just another example of eccentric Grandma Grace.

I can just imagine Grandma Grace and her ladies together, teacups in front, maybe a flask to their side, discussing their desire to be themselves despite what conventional stereotypes might have dictated for women at the time. A sort of modern-day book group – without the book, but with the drinking.  I like to think she would have agreed with people like Bertrand Russell who said, “Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”

I have to believe a bit of her eccentric spirit lives on in me today. I think she would have liked that.

This post was inspired by writealm.com’s word of the day, |eccentric|.

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookLinkedInPinterestGoogle PlusYelp

Comments: 4

  • Sara // Simply Happenstance

    July 25, 2014

    I love this Jennifer! She sounds like such a wonderfully vibrant soul! My great-grandmother and grandmother were very similar in spirit!
    Sara // Simply Happenstance recently posted…Lemon Bar SmashMy Profile

    Reply
    • Jennifer Wolfe

      July 26, 2014

      Thanks, Sara. I love thinking about the women who have come before me, and how strong they needed to be to handle everything life threw at them. Gives me confidence that I can manage, too! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  • amanda

    July 25, 2014

    she sounds like she’d be a fun woman to spend time with — full of life and inspiring!
    amanda recently posted…why write?My Profile

    Reply
    • Jennifer Wolfe

      July 26, 2014

      Amanda, I’m sure she would have been…I love thinking about the lives our ancestros led, and how we got to where we are today-don’t you?

      Reply
  • Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    CommentLuv badge