• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Hire a Moxie-Writer
  • Speaking
  • Contact
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Books
  • Single Moms with Moxie podcast

Moxie-Dude

Life updates gone wrong. Or right. I'm undecided.

  • #KitchenFails
  • Writing
  • Teenagers
  • Hamster Ramblings
  • Aging and its niceties
  • Shared Thoughts
You are here: Home / Memory Lane / In honour of one of the funniest women I’ve ever had the pleasure of being related to.

In honour of one of the funniest women I’ve ever had the pleasure of being related to.

October 1, 2013 by Mona Andrei 7 Comments

May 21, 1915 - September 30, 2013
May 21, 1915 – September 30, 2013

Good Morning, awesome Moxie-Dude readers!

Today’s post was supposed to be about writing. But since life often throws things onto our paths that sometimes divert our intentions, I’ve decided to write a reflective piece about one of the most significant people in my life: my grandmother.

Her name was Jenny Andrei and she passed away yesterday. She was 98.

The last time I saw grandma – in person – was about 12 years ago. And although I’ve often thought about how I miss our summer visits, I now consider the many miles between her home province of Saskatchewan and mine of Quebec a blessing. My memories of her will forever be of a vibrant, lucid woman who loved to laugh.

She was funny.

She was insightful.

She was a wonderful cook.

So wonderful and opposite of me, in fact, that one of my cousins teasingly hints that I’m probably adopted.

The perogies, the cabbage rolls, the platchinta, the bread buns – all comfort foods so often enjoyed thanks to my grandmother’s Romanian cuisine.

I can remember standing on a chair as a child in her kitchen as she meticulously placed perfectly shaped perogies on her kitchen table; like marching soldiers, so organized and uniform, each one accounted for. Her hands, silently speaking a tale of farm life with much hard labour, worked diligently as she told her stories and continued her cooking as though it was the easiest thing in the world to do.

Years later, when I was in my early 20s I tried to emulate the tradition of cooking the delicacies of my Romanian culture – “just like grandma”. It had taken me over five hours but I had succeeded in making a batch of my own perogies. And just like grandma, I kept a running tally of my day’s achievement. I made 123 perogies today, I had told her over the phone. My pride, I’m sure, beamed through the phone line to which grandma laughed good-naturedly and told me that she could fill three freezers for the winter in that time frame. Keep at it, she had said.

Clearly practice does indeed make perfect. And of course patience and a gifted ability in the kitchen, of which I was not bestowed. And so, to satisfy my craving for home-made perogies, I’ve learned to do what every other modern-day woman does: stop in at M & M’s on my way home from work. Naturally, they’re never as good as grandma’s.

Born in 1915, grandma in many ways was ahead of her time and one of the most open-minded people I’ve ever known. I remember a crass yet funny rhyme she told me when Rock Hudson passed away in 1985. I think about the advice she gave my brother when he felt caught between his teenage affections for two different girls in his class.

Grandma always had a funny story. Her kitchen always smelled of baking bread. Her hugs were always tight.

In today’s world there’s a lot of talk about “engagement” but having lived during a time before TV, radio and especially the Internet, grandma was a true source of engagement. I remember so many evenings of playing cards, sharing stories and laughing out loud until the tears rolled down our cheeks.

“I love you, grandma,” my last words to her after every conversation.

And she always responded the same, “I love you. I love you. I love you’s all.”

98 years is a long, weary time to spend on this earth. I don’t know if it’s luck, courage or a positive attitude that kept grandma so healthy for so long – or possibly a combination of all three and even maybe a few behind-the-scene purposes. But we all have our time and the cycle of life and death is relentless.

I love you grandma. Always.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Share with your followersShare on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on email
Email
Share on stumbleupon
Stumbleupon
Share on buffer
Buffer
Share on diggit
Diggit
Share on pinterest
Pinterest
Share on reddit
Reddit
Share on tumblr
Tumblr

Filed Under: Memory Lane, Random, Writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kim says

    October 1, 2013 at 5:12 pm

    I read your memories of your grandma through tears because my grandma was the very best part of all of my growing up years and I miss her every day. And my grandpa was equally amazing and just passed away a month ago (also at 98!).

    Big hugs to you today!!!! Thank you for sharing about your grandma and some of your wonderful memories.

    Reply
    • Mona Andrei says

      October 1, 2013 at 5:20 pm

      Thanks so much, Kim, for reading and taking the time to comment. My grandma – as yours – was definitely special. She will be missed but at the same time, I’m happy and relieved for her. It was a long life and she’s now with my grandpa – her husband.

      Reply
  2. Michelle says

    October 1, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    What a wonderful tribute to your grandma! Those stories and memories will live on in your heart forever. She sounds like she was a very special woman!

    Reply
    • Mona Andrei says

      October 1, 2013 at 8:31 pm

      Thanks, Michelle. She certainly was! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Denise Stianson Cox says

    October 1, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Wonderful tribute to your Grandma! I knew her when I was a small child and living in Ormiston!

    Reply
    • Mona Andrei says

      October 1, 2013 at 11:29 pm

      Thank you for your kind words. So lovely to have a friend of grandma’s visiting this site. 🙂

      Reply
  4. The Animated Woman says

    October 3, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    Mona, I cruised by to see what you’ve been up to since Smoked Meat Pete’s and I see this. I’m so sorry to hear. I lost my Grandma last year, so I get it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

A book for single mothers? BOOYAH!

Buzz

“Mona’s ability to mix humor with insight is truly admirable.”
Holly Monteith, Cynren Press






Subscribe!

Enter your email address:
Loading

Recent Posts

  • How I fooled my ADHD into letting me plan my life
  • Oops I did it again
  • Awarded Humour Blogger of the Year. Well, that’s ONE way to end the year with a bang.
  • PAIN. Also known as bread in French.
  • Evil hides in my house

Recent Comments

  • Corinne Rodrigues on How I fooled my ADHD into letting me plan my life
  • Susan A McCorkindale on How I fooled my ADHD into letting me plan my life
  • Adela on How I fooled my ADHD into letting me plan my life
  • Pennie Nichols on How I fooled my ADHD into letting me plan my life
  • Alana on Oops I did it again

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • July 2010
  • May 2010

Categories

  • #KitchenFails
  • Aging and its niceties
  • Boyfriend stories
  • Dating
  • Friday Funny
  • Guest post
  • Hamster Ramblings
  • Kids
  • Memory Lane
  • mom adventures
  • Non-travelling Adventures
  • Out & about – because Montreal is contagious
  • Out & About in Montreal
  • Pretending to be a grown-up
  • Raising teenagers
  • Random
  • Shared Thoughts
  • Single moms
  • Solutions to world problems
  • Sponsored Post
  • Technology (sort of)
  • That effin hamster
  • Travelling Adventures
  • Uncategorized
  • Weekly Wrap-up
  • Wordless Wednesday
  • Writing

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

© 2023 · Moxie-Dude · webmaster