"The Golden Sky" Blogfest: The Cause of My Hiccups...My Grandmother

My grandmother to me, always stood out in a crowd. She looked like her Swedish father, with piercing blue eyes and a small, up-turned nose.  She was born in 1900, and grew up on a homestead in Northern Arizona, just two days by team and wagon from the Hopi village of Walpi, where snake priests and antelope priests gathered every August to perform their Snake Dance ritual to bring rain.

Her neighbors were cowboys, who wore Levi pants and jumpers, because they were functional for working all day, and the word, "rodeo" was private property of the Mexicans.

She lost her mother to illness when she was only 19, and worked as a court reporter, or stenographer then, at a time women didn't work.  She traveled, married late in life, and had her two children in her 40's.  She raised my Mom and Uncle on her own after divorcing.  To me, she broke the mold...always stylish, poised and reserved.

What I remember most, is that she was a storyteller, and would take note of things, like being born into the age of technology and bobbed hair around the corner.  She would notice her birthday made her a "Saturday's child...works hard for a living". She published her auto-biography in 1980.

My Grandma thought of herself as a writer and listener, instead of a talker, and would relay how all the talkers were drawn to her.  One of my favorite stories she had, was about her gabby neighbor, who would call on the phone and talk all day long. Grandma would just put the phone down, do all of her housework, and occasionally pick up the receiver to say, "uh, huh...uh, huh", and then set it down again.

When we visited my Grandma's cabin in the Summers, on that same homestead, I'd see her phone resting on its side in the kitchen, and hear that long winded neighbor's voice coming through, and here would come Grandma to give her, "uh, huh".   We'd all die laughing that she could actually get away with it.

The other thing that tickled me so about my Grandma were her hiccups.  She produced the strangest, loudest sound out of her body...like something halfway between a bird squawking and a monkey screeching, yet totally alien at the same time. I'd hear that squawk ring through her cabin walls, and just giggle away. How could that noise come out of her like that, I thought!?

I always wondered if I got any of my Grandmother's traits.  I don't look like she did, but can see a bit of her Mom in me.  My Mom says I must have gotten great-grandma's ability to design.  She designed and sewed all of her and her family's clothes on the homestead.

I'm definitely not a talker either.  I love putting the phone down, and really don't like it touching my ear.  I'll never own an i pod for this reason.  I guess you could say that I'm living in the same age of technology that Grandma was born into.

I will always have strong memories of my grandma, who made her mark and lasting impression.  The nice thing, is that I can open her auto-biography, and read as if she's still here. And best of all, when that identical squawk/screech/shriek/alien sound comes out of me hiccuping, it's as if she's right next to me. I then chuckle through the physical discomfort and warm, knowing comfort, thinking to myself..."thanks Grandma."  "I am your granddaughter." 

~Courtney

This post was written for one of my favorite bloggers, Elisabeth of The Crazy Life of a Writing Mom and her Nov. 18th memoir release of "The Golden Sky".

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