Imagine the things someone has seen after living 103 yrs!
My Grandmother, Dorothy...aka GG, passed away peacefully last night. It was very hard to say goodbye to her. A strong, stoic woman, who adapted to life as needed, had a huge faith in God and an infectious spirit.  She was an amazingly creative woman, blessing me with my love of flowers and  floral design. Sometimes, she was a wild woman, LOL..we still have no idea if she married her last husband or 'lived in sin", but we know she met him in Rio De Janiero and came home to us, eventually, with nothing but her handbag..she lived life in a big way. GG outlived all 3 of her children, but was not without loved ones, as everyone who met her loved her.
I will take her ashes to her beloved Farmer's Market in Los Angeles, and somehow find a way to sprinkle them there, where her fondest memories are.
I hope I can be half the woman my Grandmother was.
Cathi

Aw, Cathi!!!

I know how much you treasured her!  The stories you told me about her.  What an amazing woman she was.

If I know you, you are heart broken, yet happy too.  She did live a full life, and she really LIVED her years!

My heartfelt sympathies and condolences to you and your family.

Chuck

(SEE!!!  I CAN be nice ... If I REALLY want to be ... )

I'm sorry for your loss, but I can read in your words just how much she celebrated life, and you have had the joy of celebrating it with her.

And as far as being half the woman she is...she is a part of of you, so her lessons and love will live on inside you.  You're already there.

My sympathy to you and yours.

She sounds like a remarkable woman, who lived a remarkable life.  May all our lives be as full and rich, and may we be remembered with as much affection as she obviously is.

I'm sorry for your loss.

All the best,

George

103 Years Wow, I am sure you will find away to spread those ashes and I bet your grandmother will be smiling down on you when you do.
Know you are in my prayers, it is hard to say good bye.

Oh Cathi.....I'm so sorry, Sweetie.

What a life she must have had.  She certainly sounds like a free spirit who loved life and everything in it.  How lucky you both were to have had each other.

She'll live in your heart forever......such grand memories.

Much Love,
Jackie

Hi Cathi,

I'm sorry for the loss of your GG.  I can tell from your words that you loved her very much. She sounds like she was amazing!  You will be in my prayers.

Jeannie

I am very sorry Cathi...but what a ride she had huh?


Now honey...spreading her ashes at Famers Market in L.A. might be a teensy bit of a problem.  As you know I've lived most of my life around there and the last time I was there was about a yr. ago.  It's not the same Farmers market that your Grandma remembers nor mine either.   It's mostly a very upscale outdoor mall now with stores like you'd see on Rodeao Dr. in Beverly Hills.  Gucci, Armani, Tiffanys, etc.

Try to come up with another place that GG loved.  

Thank you, all. I'm trying to reformat a pic I have of GG with my grandson on her 103rd bday.
I'm thinking of little things, like, on her 100th Bday, Svenn asked me to give her one single red rose on each of her bdays...from the Madd Viking, of course. For 4 yrs, she has received a red rose from our Svenn, even though she never met him. She liked to refer to him as her 'secret lover'.
Since I am amassing memories, here go some:
Gg loved:
her bible, held together with duct tape, dogeared, notations in the columns
gladiolas and gardenias
candied ginger
butterflies
handsome men
enchiladas
brilliantly colored dresses....."real ladies never wear trousers"
simple hymns and twangy country songs
Wheel of Fortune

she hated my trips to Vegas, till the time I won $5200. on a half-penny machine..THEN, she began asking me when I'd be going again...

she hated microwave ovens.........'Hell's bells! " She'd tell me....."I'm too old for these new contraptions.....just make me some popcorn!"

yes, a amazing woman, indeed, who outlived all her children.  Today, I smell Emeraude and powder.  I guess I am in for a long day of memories.  
Cathi

LOL! Linda, If Dupars is still there, in any condition, she's be happy to grace the flower beds! I know it's not the simple, shaded cluster of little shops it used to be.  GG has every article written about it since we moved from the area.  It is still her beloved farmer's market....that's all that counts, and if those uppity so-and so's at the Kodak theatre don't want her ashes there.....it's only because they never knew her......
Cathi

and thank you for the laugh...it is time to begin to heal

Sorry to read of your loss.  103 is amazing.  She must have been an awesome woman.

Mark

Yep...Dupars is still there.  START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE   Proabably the ONLY thing that is the same though.  


       

OHH! Linda! Thank you! What a find!!
On my wedding day, 35 yrs ago, I took GG, and we headed to my hair appointment. On the way, GG decided we should make a detour. We were late for my hair appt, but it was ok, because we stopped at Dupars, coz she thought a donut and a cup of coffee would make the day.
We've spent many a morning, with a donut and cup of coffee over the years.
The pic of the stalls is exactly what I remembered. Going to the butcher shop to get our holiday turkeys.....artichokes from her favorite vegetable stand, handmade cards from this very special stationery store. The voices, the sounds, the aromas there were like no place else on earth.
Shutting up now.......
Thank you, Linda :-*
cathi

:'(

She sounds like a remarkable woman - and one I'd like to have met.

Treasure the time you had.. it sounds like a blast.

Condolences (but with a smile). I know she'll always be around  watching over you (just to make sure you "live life to the fullest" like she did).

Hugs BD

GG achieved what most of us will not – not just in years, but in gusto factor. Losing her only 16 months after your Mother can’t be easy for you.  There is of course nothing that I can say to help with the loss, but please know that I am wishing you and Ann peace in your hearts.

LYM

You have my condolences Cathi.  That's totally cool she lived for that long.  What a fulfilling life it must have been, especially with YOU as a grand-daughter! :)

:-*melly

Cathi I'm so sorry for your loss  :'(  It sounds like your GG had one hell of an exciting life.  She will live on in your heart and memory forever.  

Big Hugs  [smiley=hug.gif] [smiley=hug.gif] [smiley=hug.gif] [smiley=hug.gif]

Love ya,

Jen

canIgotoRioDeJanieroandhaveatorridaffair? Do you think Gil would mind, much?

Thank you, gang, wish you could've met her!

:-/ cathi

Sorry for your loss but what great post and what a great life!

Charlie

Charlie wrote on Oct 30^th, 2008 at 7:26pm:

Sorry for your loss but what great post and what a great life! Charlie

Cathi's like that. Just ask her what she thinks about life.

[smiley=shore.gif]LIFE IS GOOOOD! [smiley=shore.gif]Now, where the heck did I hear that???

Cathi ;)

Cathi,
We are so sorry for your loss. If anyone can put this loss in the light or perspective that is deserves it's you. Our hearts and prayers are with you.
the bbz

Hugs cathi... [smiley=hug.gif]  103 years...wow...what a ride!!

Joe

raising my glass to your grandmother

Tell us some more stories about her Cathi.  

Linda_Howell wrote on Oct 30^th, 2008 at 9:56pm:

Tell us some more stories about her Cathi.

Yes, please......tell us more.

I thought about your wonderful GG all night, Cathi.  
Did she keep a journal, perhaps.

Oh how I love a free spirit!

Much Love,
Jackie

OMG! Are you in trouble now!
So, we moved up from CA in '94. My mother and grandmother were to follow, once my Mother  was officially retired...a few months later.
We secured an apt while we built Mom's house behind ours and I drove down to help her sort and pack. At 89 yrs of age, Mom and I thought it best to send GG on a 'vacation', while we asccomplished this;with her dear friend, Elizabeth, a tiny lil thing, very ambitious, but she was in her mid-80's herself. A very proper woman, much like GG, but somewhat less realistic.....anywhoo.....  LOL! GG simply told her friends we were 'taking her to Oregon to die"......well..so GG went to Elizabeth's and they lived like sisters for 5 weeks, but it took some adjustment.....Gg had only been there a few days when we got a panic call from Elizabethl! GG had gone to take a bath...soaked in there for hours, fresh, hot water, lots of scented gooey stuff.......and when it was finally time to get out, she could not! She realized she had been accustomed to the assistance of a handrail, at the perfect spot, on the 'strong side ' of her body, and she couldn't get herself OUT of the bathtub!  Elizabeth tried to help her, but to no avail......GG was stuck! Now, Gg was not a huge woman....she was the tallest of all of us women, topping out at 5'5"....MAYBE at her tops, 160-ish?? but, she was now dead weight!
Elizabeth finally called 911, and 8 nice young ( ;)handsome ) paramedics came to her assistance. The bathtub is now empty, GG was getting cold, but Elizabeth was mostly concerned about GG's modesty, so she offered her a towel.then a robe.anything to cover Gg's most private parts...as Elizabeth is reporting this to me via telephone, I hear GG shout "Hell's Bells, Elizabeth, they're paramedics.they've seen a naked old lady before......just go make the Mai-tais!".........the paramedics wrenched her out of the tub, she regained her composure....and for the duration of her time there, sponge-bathed!
What does GG remember about that event? Handsome young men........and how long it took Elizabeth to make a mai-tai!

Just as an aside, Gg had given away most of her 'treasures' prior to entering a nursing home in '99. Items of value are long gone to the recipient she chose.....but that's ok....I have 80-some-odd years of notebooks and scrapbooks, where she would clip pictures, and write prose and poetry about nature, Farmer's Market, Trains...whatever tickled her fancy.........I cannot WAIT to read the ones about Rio........
 
Linda, jacks...this is cathartic..........thank you!
cathi

I think we would all have loved your GG.

I, of course, have no idea what happened in Rio.  I have my own visions though and they are wild, romantic and wonderful. :)

Maybe you could post a picture of her.  I imagine her several ways....WWII era, wearing a silky flowing dress (floral of course), pencil thin eyebrows, hair waved and with finger curls, perhaps a large hat with a flower band....the Harlow or Garbo look.  Or......the roaring 20s, with a fringed shiny flapper dress, feathered headband and a bob haircut....the Gatsby look  But....your GG might have been the gypsy type with a peasant blouse, gathered shirt and wild, curly long hair...a flower in it of course.....the Rita Hayworth look. :)

Please tell us more if you don't mind.

Thank you for sharing her with us, Cathi.  

Love to you,
Jackie

Wow Jackie, your choice of words caused a flood of wonderful imagery to flow through my head and heart.  Nicely done!

That GG sounds like she was quite a firecracker.  I wish that I had been able to know her.  I know I would have loved her.

I, too, have a lot of visions in my head after Jackie's post.  It would be so awesome to see a picture of her and hear some more about her.

Love ya  :-*

Jacks,
WWII is what I remember best, and I have some pics of her. What I remember most is her scent and her fur stole.
Witnesses of GG wild days in Rio went to the grave with my Godmother, GG's partner in crime........and, since GG became religious(read religious zealot/born-again virgin) when she returned, I never got to hear the stories.....BUT..I know I had a grampa I never knew, and he did not return to the states with her, and she returned to Grampa Cliff flat broke........I have my suspicions that, on this little junket, she forgot her vows as  she fell in love with a real-life gigolo. Dana has all the pics right now, she's going through them and archiving for me. Soon, we'll have pics of this wild woman..funny, the picture is so clear right now....always a gardenia on her shoulder..and NEVER in trousers!
Even though we are having her cremated, she will be wearing a gardenia......that's for me.........
Cathi

[IMG]http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr184/GilnCathi/GG103-2-1.jpg/img]

This is GG on her 103rd Birthday, with my grandson, Michael.........
GG was part of 5 generations.
I am working on an album of memories, which probably won't go too far til lafter Christmas, but I'll share..........some amazing things!

Oh my goodness, she looks like the most sweetest old lady ever!!!

I missed this post in Oct. What a wonderful story, amybe a magazine article??? The picture is beautiful, she doesn't look over 85! I wonder what the secret was??

Charlotte

I'm sorry for your loss Cathi - but grateful for your gain. The wealth of memories and love you have is no "loss"

I'd love to hear some more stories too - it's a lot of fun having a living history like that

lots of love to you
Helen
x

This is the first time I'm seeing this thread and I'm so glad I did!

I'm so glad she passed peacefully when it was her time to go.  Your words totally honor her, and the love and her spirit don't just shine through - they jump out and grab you!   ;D   [smiley=heart.gif]

You do know our imaginations have all run wild with what happened in Rio.  So have you found that part of the diary or scrap books yet?  She seems like the kind of woman who would take some secrets with her.  I'm not gonna be surprised if it's always a mystery.  ;)

((((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Laurie

Thanks for the picture, Cathi.  I had visions of her in my head for days after your original post.

103 years young....still a big smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.  Amazing!!!!

Cute grandson you have there, lady.... :)

Much Love,
Jackie