Remembering my Grandmas

Posted in Personal, on 14 November 2009 - 8:48am

My maternal grandmother passed away last month at the age of 90 or 91 (there seems to be some disagreement over exactly how old she was).  I'm pretty sure I got my knitting gene from her, since my paternal grandmother, who passed away years ago, thought that knitting was for old ladies (and she wasn't including herself in that group!).  Va bene; she was a CPA, at a time when few women went to college, let alone got advanced degrees-- I probably got my math gene (very important for pattern writing) from her!

These photos show my maternal grandmother with my uncles; the first one was taken in the early 1950s and the second in 1960 or '61.  Now I'll have to find a couple of photos of my other grandma....

5 Comments

5 Comments on this post:

Beautiful pictures! I wish I had pix of my grandmothers, too.

Posted by pdxknitterati/MicheleLB | 14 November 2009 - 12:52pm

Your grandmother was beautiful, Angela. Funny that there's confusion over how old she was... I think it's a Chinese thing. My grandmother, depending on who you ask, is 97, 98, or 99...I think it's a combination of the lunar calender and how the Chinese count ages (apparently, you're 1 when you're born and then automatically turn 2 in the new year; so if you're born late in the year, you could be counted as 2 years old even if you're only a month old!).

Posted by connie | 14 November 2009 - 2:30pm

Your grandmother was beautiful, Angela. Funny that there's confusion over how old she was... I think it's a Chinese thing. My grandmother, depending on who you ask, is 97, 98, or 99...I think it's a combination of the lunar calender and how the Chinese count ages (apparently, you're 1 when you're born and then automatically turn 2 in the new year; so if you're born late in the year, you could be counted as 2 years old even if you're only a month old!).

Posted by connie | 14 November 2009 - 2:31pm

It is a Chinese custom to count birth as year one. If you are n years old in western convention, then you are n+1 years old in Chinese convention. My mom reminds herself to adjust by one year, but she alternately adds or subtracts years, so she can be off by as much as 2 years. This worked to my advantage the summer I was 16 and went to Europe as an exchange student. I talked her into letting me travel alone on an Eurail pass for 2 wks before catching a flight home. When I got home and told her how cool she was, for trusting a 16 yo to do that, she said, "You're 16?. I thought you were 18 and I had no legal say in the matter."

Posted by Grace | 14 November 2009 - 8:59pm

What a beautiful lady! Your uncle has a "look" in the 2nd picture. Is/was he mischievous?

Posted by Carrie | 19 November 2009 - 2:52pm

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