She was one of seven children who grew up in hard times with a hard father. He struggled with alcohol. There were times he just didn't come home. And then there was an accident and he lost part of his leg. They didn't find out until later that he had another family on the other side of town. My grandmother struggled to feed her children. Mom's oldest brother, 12, was killed while riding his bicycle--he was hit by a truck. It was hard.
And yet, through it all Grandma and her kids could always find something to laugh about. My grandmother was a hoot! All of us simply adored her. She was the perfect little grandma. My grandfather died long before I was born and Grandma married Grandpa Hanna. I have no memory of Grandpa Hanna when he didn't have a smile on his face. He and Grandma were simply adorable.
Every one of Mom's siblings have the most amazing senses of humor. Anytime they were together, that's what I remember the most: the laughter. They would tell stories and laugh until they cried. Even though their childhoods were filled with so much pain, so many struggles, they chose to laugh. I love that about them.
Mom's sense of humor really threw Kregg early on. She would "zing" him, and he would look at me with these poor little "puppy dog eyes," thinking she was serious. I would laugh and explain that she was just teasing. He eventually got used to her and it would only take him a minute to react and "zing" her back. I loved it.
Even when her mind was "gone" because of the disease, she still laughed. She would still try to crack jokes, the words just wouldn't cooperate. But we laughed anyway. Because we knew, whatever it was she had wanted to say would have been funny.
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