I'd like to do a series of posts dedicated to my grandmothers. I'm starting with my Paternal Grandmother, because I have so much of her with me. So, here we have No. 1 in a series, this is my Grandma Fischler. We called her that always. My mom tried to tell us we could just say 'Grandma' because she knew who she was, but its the only way I ever thought of her. It wasn't Granny (as my cousins used) or just Grandma or any number of other names kids come up with. To me, she was Grandma Fischler. Born Rachel Frye in about 1900, in Brooklyn, they all knew her as Ray. In fact, it was only a month or two ago that I learned her name was actually Rachel. It was on the back of a photo. She had a big family and lots of people around. Married Harry in 1924. Had their first daughter, my Aunt Audrey in 1925. My dad in 1926 and then two more, Joan and Steven in the next ten years.
Harry, we called him Poppy, decided to move the family to Pensacola in the 30's. He was going to be a mechanic on one of the naval bases and work on planes.
When I was a kid we would go to Pensacola to visit. She was always so full of delight in seeing us kids. And her Matty, of course. But us kids she would pinch both our cheeks and take our faces in her hands and just kiss us. Pure sweetness. I was talking with my cousin Bruce recently (Audrey's boy). I never felt so jealous as when he was telling me how he would ride his bike to her house after school everyday. It really drove home to me that so many kids have these great, familiar relationships with their grandparents. Not just summer visits. Im sorry I didn't spend more time with her. She played MahJongg, which I came to love on my own. She called her husband Christopher Columbus because he always took a circuitous route when going anywhere. And frequently got lost for a bit. This is a trait that went to my father and directly to me. Every chance I get I will take the path less travelled and try to find new ways to get where I need to go. My Aunt was kind enough to hand down her wedding ring to me. A beautiful eternity ring with diamonds that were smuggled out of Russia by Poppy's uncles.
When David proposed to me, he didn't do it with a ring, he did it with an invitation to our wedding that he had completely arranged. This was perfect in my eyes. He said the only thing he didn't have was the ring. I didn't hesitate to say "I already have one"! And I used Grandma Fischler's ring, until I broke it twice. Now I save it for special occasions.
Here is Grandma Fischler, with her mother Mamie Frye, my Aunt Audrey and my Dad. He is just kicked back enjoying himself.
This is my Dad and Poppy. Dad never did like horses.
I wanted to change up the art in my dining room. There were a couple of framed posters that the woman we bought our house from had left here. I really wanted to repurpose the frames and make something in tribute to my grandma to hang in there, so, here is what I did...
I distress the gold frame and pulled out a lot of paper and ephemera and spread it out all over the kitchen!!
Then I got my beeswax pan. This is amazing stuff. It melts beautifully at a low temp and I keep it on a very low burner while I work. It give the whole project an antique luster with a waxy dullish surface that is just what I like.
It's best to have an old iron just for this use, and on a low temp, iron over it and it smooths the wax into a pretty smooth and seamless over all appearance.
But the final piece I do like hanging in the dining room. I also hung a pic of my Aunt Nettie's wedding picture. (she married Harry's brother, Joe)
Have you hugged or spoken to your grandma today? You should. Ask her tons of questions about her life before its too late.
