"Grandma Always Liked You Best" Submission #8

In later years, when I asked my mom the catalyst for her decision to move us back to Iowa after my father's death, she confirmed that it was because her mother wanted her to come "home."

Her mother? Bessie Harris. Grandma Harris. Mother of nine... and in the process of outliving most of her nine children.

Grandma Harris came to live with us in Madrid shortly after we relocated to Iowa. I guess she was a pretty good woman but I was never particularly close to her. This was due, in part, to the fact that she clearly favored my cousin, Bruce, over me... a fact that she barely attempted to conceal.

Mom said that Elsie, mom's sister and Bruce's mom, was also Grandma's favorite daughter. That favoritism seemed to trickle down to Bruce.

A couple anecdotal pieces of evidence to this "favoritism:"

One day, as Sam Smiley and I were killing time at his house, I inadvertently found fifty cents under the seat cushions in his living room. Sam and I split the treasure and immediately made plans to run downtown and spend it before it burned a hole in our pocket.

I went home and filled my mom in on what we had found and declared my intentions to immediately spend my quarter downtown. Grandma Harris sat and listened intently before nonchalantly sauntering toward her bedroom. She attempted to secretly motion Bruce to follow her but I saw her and correctly assumed what was taking place.

I peeked through the crack in the doorway to her bedroom and witnessed her rummaging through her coin purse as Bruce eagerly stuck out his hand. I watched as she pulled out a quarter and then a dime. Thirty-five cents!

Grandma Harris not only wanted Bruce to have anything and everything that I had... she wanted him to have more!

This certainly wasn't an egregious crime on her part but it was an event not unlike many events where her actions clearly revealed her bias.

Even though Grandma Harris had been slowed by a stroke a couple years earlier, she was still as strong as an ox at 84 years of age. We used to arm wrestle with her and never even came close to beating her.

She was a bible-toting, God-fearing woman but she also had a temper that could clear a room in an instant. She was very feisty!

One day, I did something to get her dander up and she came at me. I leaped from my chair with the intent of escaping due to my superior speed and agility. Grandma was a step behind me with her shoe cocked above her head, looking for an opportunity for a right hook across the side of my head.

She cornered me in the dining room where I used the table as a barrier between me and this senior assassin. We both slowly circled the table as we pondered our next move. She faked left and I bit. With head down, I ran to my right only to look up as we met near the doorway into the kitchen where Bruce was taking a pot pie out of the oven.

With nowhere to go and being mocked with that "Now I got You!" look from our resident seasoned citizen, I did the only thing I could do as I saw that well worn sole of her shoe rapidly approaching the side of my head... I ducked.

Unfortunately for Bruce, who was attempting to tip-toe past the commotion with his dinner in hand, he didn't duck.

Bruce ended up on the ground with the steaming ingredients from a just cooked, chicken pot pie all over him and around him. Grandma Harris immediately diverted her attention from me to Bruce as she profusely apologized for her bad aim.

I took that opportunity to head out the front door and into safety.

My cousin (brother) Bruce passed away in 2013. He was 57 and another victim of cancer.

Bruce's memorial service. My brothers Butch and Bill... tossing Bruce's ashes into the Des Moines River.

Grandma Harris passed away at the ripe old age of 91. She outlived six of her nine children. At the time of this writing, my mom is the single surviving child of Bessie Harris. On January 15, 2015... mom will turn... 91.

Mom at Bruce's memorial - September 2013