Grandparents

I only remember one grandparent -- dad's mom. The others all died when I was little, so I've only heard stories about them. Grandma was a sweet old lady, but I always remember her being in a care home or with Uncle Gary.

I knew about Grandpa Palmer being Shirley Temple's body guard, a nice bragging point.

I have some cards written by Grandma Beers when I was a baby. It makes me wonder if writing is a gene.

One great-grandmother was Ruby Evelyn Ingalls. I remember hearing about her when I was first reading the Little House Books; I was about seven, I think, and I couldn't even say "Laura" correctly. And Mom pointed out the scene in "Big Woods" where Laura gets into a fight with her cousin Laura over which of their baby sisters is prettier. And Mom said that baby was her grandmother.

By the way, I've seen pictures of both those baby sisters. In South Dakota, Clarissa found a picture of "Eva" and said she looked a lot like Tawnia. Mom then freaked out. And just for the record, our great-grandma was indeed prettier than Baby Carrie. I always thought she was.