Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Wednesday Wishcasting:" Tea"

Jamie is still in Paris, so again for thisWishcasting Wednesday, I am "revisiting" one of her previous queries,
this one originally asked on Nov. 9, 2011:

"WHO DO YOU WISH TO HAVE TEA WITH?"

Surprise, I am not answering this with Oprah, President Obama or even Johnny Depp!
(though I must admit, there isn't much I WOULDN'T want to do with him...!)
Although those three are among the top people I admire, find interesting
and would definitely delight in getting to know them over tea,
if I could choose anyone, it would be none of them.

Rather, it would be...
My Grandma.
me & grandma, circa 1970
(can't you tell by the tie & killer pointy collar of my dress?!)

Ethel Bussey, my maternal grandma, passed away on November 7, 2007.
5 days after her 98th birthday.
27 years and 2 days after her huband, my grandpa, Harry Bussey.
And just one week after I moved to Florida, where they lived all through my childhood & beyond,
where my mom lived , and where my grandma spent her last few years in a nursing home.
I believe that she waited for me to get there,
so she would know that her daughter (my mom),
would not have to go through losing her alone.

relaxing on her beloved lake

I wish I would have taken the time to get to know my grandma better in my adult years.
She and my grandpa traveled a lot when I was young,
and I would only get to see them a few times a year, if that.
And when I got older, well, I became typically wrapped up in myself and my life,
 where grandmas don;t hold much importance over friends and boys and clothes and music.
I still saw her every so often during my adult years,
but I wish I would have taken the time to get to know my grandma better then, while I had the chance.

There is so much that I never knew about her.
So much that I now realize I would love to know.
So many things I would ask her, so many things I would be honored to have her share with me.

I remember her as strong, capable, fearless, assertive, take-charge, and not at all "girly".
Except that she sewed, a LOT.
( A talent she passed along to my mom, but regrettably,
I had no interest in when offered a chance to learn.)
Every birthday and Christmas when I was little, I could count on a box full
of new clothing she had whipped up for me to arrive in the mail.

I know the tiniest bit about the difficult life she had as a young woman.
I discovered in my teens that she had been married before my grandpa.
A hush hush, secret, almost taboo thing back in those days.

I know that she loved the land and water, loved adventure, loved to fish, loved my mom and loved me.
To me, she seemed always to be so matter of fact and no-nonsense, with  a "git 'er done" attitude.
When my daddy took his life, she immediately took the first flight she could get to be by my moms side.
That was the first time she had ever flown. She was in her 80's.
She had always refused to, the only thing I ever knew her to be afraid of.

When I was very young, I would get quite dramatic about my grandparents departure from visiting.
I still remember how my grandma would stoop down to my level, hold onto my little hands and say
"Now Laurie Jean, if we don't leave, how can we ever come back?"
(I hope to someday soon get to use that one on MY little grandson!)

one of my very favorite photos of me & my grandma
feeding the seagulls on Siesta Beach near her home in Florida
I don't even know if she liked tea.
I only ever saw her drink coffee.
But I'm pretty sure I do know
that she was the kind of person
who would drink whatever she wanted to,
even if you invited her to "tea".

I wish I could have a chance to find out that,
 and so much more, 
about my grandma.

I miss her.
What I knew of her,
and what I will never know of her.


Happy Me-Laurie Z


3 comments:

  1. This makes me miss my own Grandma.

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  2. Lovely post about your Nana. Alas mine died when I was very young and never really spent time with her either as she was out of province while my other one I never met as she was overseas.

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  3. So sweet and sad, thank you for sharing this lovely lady.

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