I’m looking for my grandma . . .

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I thought I was going to write about something else this morning but frosty mornings have a way changing ones mind. Well, that and the fact that I am participating in a challenge – Write of Passage – this month and today, the challenge is writing something embarrassing.

I really hate embarrassing situations and I try to exclude myself from them when at all possible but I do remember this one time when I was in my early teens, probably around 7th or 8th grade . . .

My grandma worked at the local YMCA as their receptionist, I guess you’d call it, and so she was generally the one who answered the phones. I used to call her when I got home from school to just let her know I’d arrived home safe and sound. Since my parents were usually still at work also (they delivered newspapers at the time because dad was “retired”) and as there were no cell phones back then, I couldn’t just call them. So, grandma it was.

Well, this one day I called the YMCA on my usual after school mission and someone ELSE answered the phone. Now, I knew my grandma’s name. Really, I did. But on this day, for the life of me, I just could not remember it. After I stammered around a bit, the person on the other end of the line – who was not my grandma – asked me who I was looking for . . .

“Well, I’m looking for my grandma, is she there?” I say.

“Honey, there are a lot of grandma’s here. What’s her name?”

“See, that’s the problem, I can’t remember it. You know, I just call her grandma usually.”

“So, is she a patron? Is she here for one of the senior programs this afternoon?”

“No, she works there. She usually answers the phone so I don’t have to worry about it.”

And she begins laughing at me! Not just a little chuckle, either.

“Oh, you want Clarice!” She finally says, still laughing.

“Yes, that’s her.”

“Ok, let me go find her for you, dear.”

I sat there waiting for a few minutes and could hear things going on in the background. Finally, I hear the phone being picked up.

“Hello, this is Clarice,” my grandma says, lightly chuckling.

“Hi, grandma,” I reply.

And she asks me what’s up. So, I told her my little story of not remembering her name and so I just asked for my grandma. She laughs a little more.

“I couldn’t remember your name for the life of me.”

“Well, it’s grandma, of course!”

“That’s what I told them and they didn’t believe me,” I say before hanging up.

My grandma – and my mom – told that story to anyone who would listen, I swear. Of course, it was the first thing my parents heard about when they got home from delivering newspapers later that afternoon, too.

I don’t know why I remember the story so vividly but I do and although there have been other embarrassing moments in my life, this one seems to be the one that stands out in my mind no matter what else happens.

But, you know, even though it is embarrassing, I’m grateful for the memory since my grandma is no longer here to share things with.

And when I get to heaven, I will say . . .

I’m sure they’ll know exactly who she is.

Be blessed,

The song currently stuck in my head . . . Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. There’s really no place to go, so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. (By the way, I hate snow. I hope we do NOT have the snow like last year. We were snowed in with well over 2 feet of snow for 2 weeks. Highly unusual in the Puget Sound area. It better stay in the mountains this time!)

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

Other folks participating in this challenge . . .