In the late afternoons at Therese’s cottage, Grandmaman (Laurette McBride) would take out the cards and her huge jar of pennies and would teach my cousins and me to play a simple game called 31, which included making bets with pennies. At least, I thought it was a simple game, but she always won.
Looking back, maybe it wasn’t such a simple game after all. We played with the pennies from her jar, so we never had to bring our own. Inevitably, her pile was always the biggest, and all the pennies went back into the jar for the next time. So that’s what she taught me about gambling with money: if you do it, take the pennies out of the jar, have fun with your grandchildren, and put all the pennies back in the jar for next time. It’s the only kind of gambling our family ever did!
She had a marvelous laugh, she was the life of the party, and she always had a smile on her face.
She had a sparkle in her eye, and she loved her family, and she only ever wore White Shoulders Perfume. I could always count on her to have a can of Pure Spring Ginger Ale in the refrigerator and those Cadbury Lady Fingers. She was the perfect hostess, and looking back, although she was quiet and unassuming, she was the centre of the family, and family was everything she had. We all knew she loved us.
Grandmaman was an example to me of what family life should be. She was always happy, and celebrated the simple things. She was classy, consistent, and we all loved her. And we always knew that she loved us back.
- Robbie
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