I remember a dignified lady with a temper...who still had patience for a six year old who did *not* want to play piano (but at 28, I am so grateful to have gotten a thorough understanding of chord structure and progression as part of my foundational brain wrinkles)
she was always quick to congratulate Charlie on his clever inventions (like the fan that blew directly over the ice container to flood the little kitchen with cold air)...and genuinely proud when my brother or I solved a puzzle and came up with a work around...she could light up a room with effusive praise at how impressed she always was with us
although stately and formal, I can hear her laughter as if she's in the next room. English was never her strong language, but she was quicker than we at language puzzle games when the whole family got together over the holidays to play Cranium...she got the joke.
even though she came from a time and place it wasn't true, she always (*ALWAYS*) assured me I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, no matter I'm "only" a girl; she made sure to tell me how proud she was of my academic successes, and never labored over the less than stellar academic drawbacks.
when I decided to become a vegetarian during my teen years, my jewish grandmother mocked me, really believing you *need* meat to survive. not so, my chinese grandmother. she immediately asked if I was fully vegetarian, or going to still eat chicken and fish, and told me how she'd just been reading an article about the health benefits of a low to no meat diet. Never made a big deal about me picking meat chunks out of dinner courses, and always tried to make sure there was a selection of foods at any meal she prepared that I could eat.
I'm drowning in these vignettes of before.
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