My mother’s mother
It is hard to imagine my 93 year old mother as a daughter but that she was. When her mother died when my mom was 72 and I was 39 I witnessed her morning just like any daughter would. I never saw my mom like that. She was always so strong, stoic to me. As a female doctor in the 1942’s my mom lived in a man’s world and she had to be strong and not show emotions.
Think back to a time long ago, imagine my grandmother marching for a woman’s right to vote. Yes she was a suffragette. From a family with 6 children, she was the one with the most business sense and helped her brother, an inventor, run a business. When my mother was in high school my grandmother went back to school to become a teacher and ultimately got her PhD in Psychology. That was in the 1930s, pretty rare for a woman. She practiced as a clinical psychologist until the age of 91. Well according to my mother she was quite a character as a mother, not easy to be with. She had her rules and that was it. As we look back now they were pretty smart rules. She insisted on hands being washed well. You had to dress warmly and where boots. Get plenty of sleep. As studying was on the top of the list. So is it surprising that both my mother and her sister became doctors in the 1940’s – nope. My aunt and mother will forever be grateful to NYU for accepting them because the other well known universities in NYC did not accept women to medical school back then. If my grandmother thought someone was being lazy then it was all over, she was done with you and let you know in no uncertain words. Of course, eating healthy fruits and vegetables, lean meats and few sugar desserts had to be followed. As I said, she was tough but all her rules, today would be the norm and considered well balanced. As the generations have continued, each mother has softened a bit, Grandmother real tough and definitely not warm and fuzzy, my mother a little less tough (not much) and also not warm and fuzzy. I would consider my self warm and fuzzy, I just loved raising my children and had the privilege of being home with them for 10 years before I went back to work. Time will tell what kind of mother my daughter will be……