Malia's post got me thinking about some of my favourite memories of grandma...i started chuckling to myself a lot as i thought about some of the mihi moments as well...i felt like sharing them because i'm bored and have nothing to do. The following events are ones i was actually at...
1. Watching Grandma clean her fish tank...and then watching her give the fish a bath, before drying them with a tea towel and placing them back in water.
2. Taking Grandma a bottle of sparkling grapejuice and chocolates on her birthday one year, when she was still living with Uncle Craig as the nunnery (spelling?). Uncle Craig made the famous toast "to grandma and her twin"...the room went dead silent, before Steve, Mum and I BURST INTO FITS OF LAUGHTER! grandma had a horrid look on her face and said "why would you say a morbid thing like that?" to which craig replied "i always think of you and your twin on your birthday" to which steve and i replied with even louder fits of laughter...the kind where your eyes close and your stomach starts to hurt. Uncle Craig got annoyed and kicked me and steve out of the flat....i guess that was really an uncle Craig moment, HOWEVER the look of horror on grandma's face when uncle craig toasted her deceased twin whom she nor craig have ever met was the icing on the cake...as we all know how the much the super natural freaked grandma out.
3. After Grandpa Strother's passing, and the Walmsley's left for the states, it was my job to stay with Grandma at night and be her bodyguard. Uncle Howard and Aunty Lorena were living at the house at that time too. I'm sure most of us who had the priviledge of being her bodyguard will remember how early she would rise...to write stories, or opera music...on one such morning...say 2am, grandma turned the light on as usual and began singing to her hearts content. I tried to keep sleeping, but was finding it VERY HARD...being the respectful grand-daughter i let her go for gold...hoping she would tire any minute, turn off the light and go back to sleep...an hour later...she still hadn't...till i heard uncle Howard yell from the end room...MIHI SHUT UP!
4. It was always very easy to give grandma a fright. I remember one weekend when i was like 5 or 6 mum and dad left me with Grandma cause they had to go on a scout camp or something like that. Uncle Howard was still living there at the time...he wasn't married yet either. Anywho, i was playing at uncle warrens one night, and grandma sent uncle howard over to pick me up. When we got home, uncle howard told me to go through the back door...i wasn't sure why...and he said i had to be quiet. So we quietly walked in the back door, and peered around the corner into the lounge...grandma was sitting real close to the tv watching that show "beauty and the beast". I didn't know what we were doing or why we were being sneaky....Uncle Howard then let out this huge RAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! grandma almost hit the roof...he pushed me into the lounge and he snuck back out the door...and then came in through the front. I wonder if uncle Howard even remembers that...probably not...but i do...cause I WAS THE ONE THAT GOT IN TROUBLE! i laugh about it cause i think it's funny grandma would even think i could have such a deep man's RAAAHHH voice. I always remember having to be weary of approaching her in public places..incase she didn't realise it was me...a couple of times when i got punched or something thrown at me for giving her fright, when all i was simply doing was saying hello. I know WE ALL have stories like that.
5. Being made to do the FLOWER RUN! Porky drove the van, me and a few other cuzzies would be driven around Temple View at night to cut flowers from peoples gardens for Grandma everytime she did flowers for weddings ETC. She said the people at those houses we took flower from were fine with it, but the fact that it had to be done at night when no one could see, and that we also had to be quick and quiet...just didn't figure out LAUGH! We would drive around till we pretty much had a van load of flowers...of which most went to waste...cause we cut the wrong kind.
6. If you ever needed a quick fizzy fix, you could always count on grandma...Lift was EVERYWHERE!
7. Having to watch "The Bodyguard" or "last of the mohicans" whenever i stayed at grandma's. Does anyone know how many times she actually paid to go see the Bodyguard??? i hear it was in the double digits.
8. Kelly brought Vince over the Grandma's to officially meet. I was there when Kelly said "This is my fiancee Vincent" to which grandma replied "is it Vince or Vince-sensual" that was one of the other times i was kicked out of the house for laughing too much.
9. You never really know what to say to things grandma counts as a compliment. After getting married i gave grandma a photo of Dil and i on our wedding day. Oneday we had gone over to pick up something from uncle craig. Grandma was in the shower while we were there. As we were leaving she comes to the door and yells across the street..."oh your photo looks beautiful. You look like one of those suicide bombers and Dillon looks like a Sihk"...i'm like..."gee thanks grandma...i feel so much better about my looks"...she said..."No, it's a compliment, suicide bombers look pretty". Cool i guess. I miss her random comments and compliments...
10. I've witnessed many times when grandma has had her vivid handy to colour in worn carpet or fix marks on a wall.
Well, i've rambled long enough...i could go on all day...but i won't...who else has some funny stories???
Mum and Dad once woke Wilson Rakia and I up to go to Grandma's to watch Tommy Knockers, a scarey movie. She got half way through it and decided she didnt want to watch it so tried changing the channel with a calculator.
ReplyDeleteI remember getting home one night and getting the call from Grandma to take her into town, but just before I left I got a knock at the door and there was this mental maori boy selling rip off packets of lollies for $2.00 but you could see that in each packet there was abt 10 pineapple lumps. I said in my most tactful tones "Get Lost Kid if I wanted to be ripped off I'd go to Ripco's" He said "But if you buy it they will find a cure for my illness and I'll get better" I said "Whatever is wrong with you kid is no small thing!" and closed the door.
ReplyDeleteI went down to pick up grandma and as usual she wasnt ready so as I waited. While I was waiting there was this knock at the door and it was this same kid. He was horrified to see me but before I could boot him out again grandma came and brought 5 pkts of ripoff confectionery. He went away feeling he had got one over me. Thinking grandma had got them for her grandchildren she then offered them to me for taking her into town???? I felt like chasing the boy down and booting them all up his backside. But her generosity didnt end there.
I took grandma into town and just at the lights to the frankton bridge I stop and these windscreen washers guys jump out in front of us and clean our windscreen and she says "Oh wonderful" I said "Grandma they do this for money, but I dont pay them!" and she said "Oh, here dear, give them this!" and gave me $20.00 which I put in my ash tray much to the windscreen washer dudes disappointment" I mean if your gonna give money to down and out maoris then give it to me, I wont waste it on booze and cigarettes just McDonalds, KFC and Burger King.
That story about Craig toasting Grandma's twin was crazy! What were you thinking Craig! I especially like the one where Howard yelled at Grandma to shut up. Classic Howard.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I had recently returned from my mission, Grandma decided it was time to give me some dating advice. This is what she said;
In my day when a young man was quiet, women thought of him as the strong silent type. But nowadays, if a young man is quiet, people think he's dumb! So speak up, because I know you're not dumb, and maybe they will talk to you."
As for the embellished stories, there were many, and in my case most of them had to do with opera singing. One time when me and Kenny were at her house, apparently Kenny wasn't being very nice at the table so I walked down to the bedroom singing one of Pavarotti's sad songs that I had been listening to earlier in the week. Grandma said she told dad that I would be an 'opera star', and then dad burst her bubble saying; "No son of mine is going to be an Opera singer!"
I asked dad about that and he doesn't remember.