As Women’s History Month comes to an end, I wanted to take the chance to talk about one of the most influential and important ladies in my life, my Grandma Jo. I know everyone believes that their grandma is the best, but I’m pretty sure mine takes the cake.
My Grandma has seen and done so many things in her life and she is the best story teller. Grandma Jo was born February 25, 1933. This makes her currently eighty-nine years old, but if you ever got the pleasure of meeting her you wouldn’t know it. I have grown up hearing her say “Well it’s no fun to act your age”, so at eighty-nine years old she is still traveling the world, walking everyday, cheering on her grandkids at everything they do, and of course cracking jokes and insulting my card playing skills. At around eight-five years old, she traveled to Europe for the first time. To see the world and her granddaughter get married. As I am currently writing this I’m on a trip with her in Colorado, so she could see her son and the mountains again.
This lady also has the biggest heart. She is a grandma to everyone she meets on top of her nineteen grandchildren and twenty-one, soon to be twenty-two, great grandchildren. When I was just born, grandma Jo made a deal with my older sister that even though she lived 45 minutes away from us, she would see us at least once a week and until the pandemic, she did that. During the pandemic, we called her all the time and even figured out ways to play card over zoom, but even with that she was still lonely. She had too much love to give and ended up taking in a street cat, she named leo. Leo was amazing for Grandma Jo during the pandemic and has gone from hunting mice in the sewer to being the fattest and most spoiled cat in town.
One word I would use to describe my grandma is active. She is known for never sitting still. Even as we are on this vacation, she can’t just sit and relax. Everyday of the week she has something going on, if she isn’t traveling she is at bingo, euchre tournaments, or helping at church. When the weather is nice she will be walking all over town and is especially known for walking down to the ice cream shop everyday.
Independence is not a new thing to Grandma Jo, although she got married at just seventeen. She had a total of six children and by the time my mom, the youngest, was eight my grandma was a single mother. She worked day and night to provide for her family. She worked at nursing homes during the day as a CNA and tended bars at night. She worked her butt off for her family and still there were months where her family would be couch surfing. Grandma Jo overcame so much, she is the most hard working lady I know and all during a time when being a single mother was something to be ashamed of, but she was not ashamed. She lives her life for now and doesn’t look to the past because there is no point.
Grandma Jo is my best friend, I talk to her everyday and don’t know what I would do without her. I have valued the trip with her more than anything, because I know she is getting older and doing things like this will soon become more difficult. Above all else I am so inspired by my grandmother. She has overcome many adversities in her life, but is still full of love and gives everything she can. She lives her life to the fullest and lives to serve God. I hope everyone has a lady like my Grandma Jo in their life.