Welcome to another Grateful Heart Monday where I reflect each week upon a piece of gratitude to start my week off on a positive note, which for today is dedicated to my Grandmother’s Elsa and Kathleen, two women who left me plenty of wonderful memories.
My two Grandmothers couldn’t have been any more different. With my Mother’s mother Kathleen, she was super-athletic and someone who had incredible energy all the time. She really was quite the boisterous one as well. I fondly remember her always able to hold her two fingers in her mouth and whistle so loud it made my ears hurt. It was her special call to get me to come home whenever I was visiting her home in Houston, Texas. She loved bowling, golf, basketball, baseball and more and would engage in each of those sports with me when I was a young kid. With my parents not being overly athletic, it was nice having a family member who would do things like shoot some hoops with me. My Grandmother also had an infectious laugh that would light up any room and I honestly can’t remember a time when she wasn’t smiling and happy. I loved spending time with her at her house on Lake Houston, where she’d tell stories, catch up with the latest sports news, and do Jumble puzzles with me.
Ironically, my Father’s mother Elsa was almost the total opposite of her though. Reserved, elegant, and deeply intuitive, most of my time with her was spent introspectively. We often talked current events while enjoying homemade popovers and oatmeal every morning whenever I visited her home in Glen Cove, NY. She made the best Thanksgiving dinners too and I loved sitting at any table with her while eating my meals because she always had so many interesting things to talk about during them. She was ultimately someone who brought out my intellect in many ways, including taking me to theater, exposing me to the arts, and dining out at a number of fancy restaurants. I mustn’t forget our many visits to her local beach on the Long Island Sound and teaching me a number of card games as well. But I do need to give her credit to the one athletic thing she did do that seemed almost contrary to her personality, that being her ability to play ping-pong. She was pretty fierce whenever we’d play and she taught me every trick in the game.
So, as you can see, I have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to my Grandmothers because each helped me to become much of who I am today. Truthfully, I sometimes think I miss them more than my own parents because I never experienced any major drama with either of them and they always saw the best in me, rather than constantly telling me I could do better. Kathleen was my sports fan and an avid supporter of my talent in swimming and basketball, while Elsa was there for my scholastic achievements. While I know my parents were proud of me in their own way and did the best they could, it’s my Grandmothers who constantly made sure to remind me whenever I was with them how special I was. That’s probably why my visits to both of their homes over the years are some of my best memories in life thus far. They certainly left me a legacy of warm love and memories that still to this day, decades after their deaths, I can remember fondly and for that I am truly grateful for them both…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
