The Portraits

I never met my dad's mom. I just have stories about her from various people. I know she was pretty fierce. I know she had very little patience for people's bullshit. I have been told, over and over again, that she never would have 'let' me get as fat as I did. Then again, my dad had a weight problem, as did she. Also, I'm a grandkid and that usually implies special rules.

My dad told me a story about her today. This was one I'd never heard. My grandmother worked in a bank and would get discounts for annual family portraits. She would put down a deposit and tell my dad, my aunt, and my grandfather when the setting would take place. Somehow, on that day, always, one of the three of them (or more) would manage to screw the whole 'family portrait' thing up. When this would happen, she would just leave the three of them at home and go to get pictures of herself.

After a while, it seems she gave up. This isn't surprising as I've never actually seen a family portrait of them but have seen many pictures of her. I think it's so funny that year after year, this new picture of her would be hanging in the dining room for everyone to see how she persisted, even when no one else would cooperate.

I'm glad she did this. In a time when so many women just allowed themselves to shrink submissively into the background, my grandmother was a force of nature. She had opinions and followed through with her plans. You knew if you crossed her, there would be consequences. That's awesome. I wish I could have met her.