The Candywoman Can
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007My Grandma died tonight. She didn’t make the headlines. She wasn’t well known. She wasn’t America’s sweetheart. She didn’t change the world. But she was real. She told you like it is. She had a smoky cackle. She had hair like Ursula, the sea witch, and a voice to match. She said God damn with the best of them. She wasn’t drop dead gorgeous with a body that wouldn’t quit. But her hugs were forever and healing. She baked the best bread. In her time she was a great golfer and bowler. She had some funny moments. At our house one morning she mistook a can of Dow bathroom cleaner for aerosol hairspray. She came running out of the bathroom with a foaming head of hair, cursing away. She wasn’t a fan of the buzzer in a Taboo game. She used to wear hooker red lipstick and her cigarettes, when she smoked, had lovely magenta tips. Ah, she was grand. Everyone loved my grandmother. She did so much for everyone around her. She made delicious bottled green beans, and she threw the Yahtzee dice far. She would sing Mairzy Doats and The Three Little Fishies to the delight of her grandchildren. No she wasn’t famous, but she was someone. And I loved her.
Maybe she did change the world.
Grandma Dorthy Irene Stewart April 9, 1929-October 2, 2007 I love you, lady.