Grandma Rena

Today would have been my grandma Rena's 65th birthday. She died when I was 13 on December 2nd 2003 from complications of juvenile onset diabetes. I remember the fog was so weird on that day...I haven't seen fog like that since. I also remember the amount of people at her funeral. They extended out of the door. This was just a small example of how many people's lives my grandma touched. She was always there for anyone no matter what and always offered what she had. I remember thinking that I wanted to be just like that. Though my grandma was in my life for a very short time, she has influenced me in a way that changes how I act towards myself and other people everyday. Here are some stories that I define and remember my grandma by:

Go to Hal's!
It was a very snowy morning and my grandpa Frank was headed to work. He was notorious for being in a grouchy mood and the fact that his car wasn't starting that morning didn't help matters much. So in a huff, he began walking to work. My grandma, feeling bad for him, ran inside and called their next door neighbors' Hal and Edith to ask Hal to drive my grandpa to work. Hal agreed and my grandma ran out to the middle of the street to catch my grandpa. As he was half way down the block, my grandma yelled "Frank! Go to Hal's!" My grandpa turned around and yells back "What?" "Go to Hal's!" my grandma yells. "Ah, you go to hell, you bitch!" my grandpa yells back. HAHA!! "No! Go to Edith and Hal's so he can take you to work!" At this point, my grandma is cracking up.

Hamburgers
One time, my grandma forgot to pay the gas bill. This wasn't a rare thing, but she did not want my grandpa to find out. So she decided to buy hamburgers from Crown Burger for dinner that night. She bought my grandpa two hamburgers, but he only ate one. Later that evening, he asked my grandma to warm up his other hamburger and left over fries. Keep in mind that they did not have a microwave. My mom gave my grandma a look of horror, but my grandma kept her cool and said "Sure" as she ran to the kitchen. "Lorie, can you come here real quick?" my grandma yelled to my mom. When my mom walked into the kitchen, she saw that my grandma had the hamburger laid out open faced on the toaster. "Keep pressing the lever down and I will be right back" my grandma told my mom. My mom reluctantly agreed and my grandma ran to the bathroom. A few seconds later, my mom heard the blow dryer going. My mom checked to see what grandma was doing, and she had the fries in a napkin and was blow drying them. My grandpa thought that was the best hamburger and fries he ever ate and never found out about the gas bill until I blurted it out many years later.

Grandma Rena with my Uncle Pancho. My mom looks a lot like her.

There are a million other funny stories like these that have to do with my grandma. Like the one time when she and my dad stole a Christmas tree, or when she farted in the Grand Canyon. But there are other, more serious things I remember my grandma by too. How she would always find a way to feed her children even when they were dirt poor. Or how she was helping a child from another country financially, which we didn't find out about until we were going through her things after she died. I learned many things from  my grandma, but I believe the most important was to be kind and to respect other people from all walks of life regardless of their past. You never know the battles that other people are fighting and the least you can do is be a kind and genuine person towards them. I grew up thinking that my grandma would be there for my kids one day the way she was there for my sister, my cousins, and I. And she still will be, as a piece of her lives in me.