Throwback Thursday - Grandparent Edition

I wanted to be ahead of the game this week so I texted Amanda Nicole for the topic which was then decided to be about memories with grandparents.

One of the bad parts of being born to older parents (my mom was 40 and my dad 50 when I was born) is that it makes it less likely to have living grandparents, which was the case with me.

I was born in the US while my entire family was from Argentina (although my paternal grandmother was from the US as well). Both paternal grandparents had passed away prior to my birthday (one 20 years prior, the other only 6 years or so) and my maternal grandfather had passed away several years prior to my birth as well.

That left my maternal grandmother. Zuni came to the states when I was born.

December 1984 - Los Angeles, CA 

My mom took me to Argentina to meet my grandma and many other relatives when I was 7 (1991/1992) and then 3 more times in the mid-90’s.  I spent a lot of time with my grandmother during these trips, especially the last 3. My grandmother was in her 80’s by this point and our visits consisted of watching TV, talking, and going out for ice cream.

In 1995 my grandmother was living in a home and I remember visiting her along with my mom and sister (the one who passed away) and walking down the block to an ice cream shop. The traffic in Argentina is pretty bad, and I remember having to make my old grandma do some quick walking to get to the other side of the avenue.

With my sister and grandma - enjoying a dulce de leche ice cream. I wish they were available in the states! 

Another memory I have is going to the party room in the home she was in and drinking mate along with a couple of her friends in the home. We would go to Argentina during their winter, so the mate kept us nice and warm.

Taking notes from her.

I spent some time interviewing my grandma about her childhood and her children. I have it in a notebook somewhere. There was another time in which my mom interviewed my grandma and we taped it. I am not sure where the tape is, but I hope I can find it (I am hoping to transfer all my VHS to digital soon).

A memory that makes me laugh is when, during our first trip in 1991, my mom and grandma were lying in bed watching TV my mom lifted her leg. My grandma scolded her and told her to put it down… so that the people on the TV wouldn’t see up her dress. It still brings a giggle to me and my mom to think about it.

Of course I have many other memories with my grandma, which I’ll save for another day.

My grandma passed away in 1998 at the age of 87. I had seen her last 2 years before.