It's funny, because I never really realized how much she had influence me until the last couple years. I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to tell her how grateful I am that she was my grandmother last year on my birthday. Here is a photo of us on my 43rd birthday
Tutu and I on my 43rd birthday in Las Vegas. She didn't want to take the photo because she told me "I look a mess, I wasn't expecting pictures."
I grew up calling my grandmother "Tutu". "Tutu" is Hawaiian for "grandmother." My grandmother was obsessed with Polynesian culture, like many post WW2 women. Before I was born, she took up Polynesian dancing as a hobby. Growing up, it was tradition for us to drive up to Walnut Creek to attend her dance recital in a large school gymnasium. My father said he was always a bit ashamed that my grandmother was a bit larger than the other women, but I always admired the fact she didn't care. She was having fun and that was all that mattered. She did the dancing for over 30 years.
Tutu always had her eyebrows, lipstick and fingernails done. She told a great story about how when she was first dating my grandfather, she had purchased a fingernail polish called "Dragon's Blood." My grandfather told her "My mother would NEVER wear nail polish like that!" His mother was a St. Louis society woman, and very conservative. Well, when my grandmother was introduced to her future mother-in-law, of course the mother-in-law was wearing Dragon's Blood!
Travelling the world was one of Tutu's favorite things. She would make good friends and maintain those relationships. She would have visitors from all over and she would travel to different places and visit people. Her example is a big contributor to why my house is open to visitors from everywhere, that I have met at weekenders and shows I have attended.
Tutu also shared with me her love of Elvis. When most parents of her generation thought Elvis would corrupt their children, my grandmother was running out and buying up all the new rock and roll records she could find. She didn't stay with the current music after the 1960s, but she always loved Elvis. When my father had told her that her 7 year old granddaughter had discovered his Elvis LP and wanted to listen to it all the time, she made me cassette tapes and gave me a cassette tape player to listen to Elvis. I spend hours dancing around and singing to those tapes when I was 7 and 8. She also promised to take me to see Elvis at one of his Vegas dinner shows when I was 12. I was riding in the car with her in San Diego, during one of our summer trips together when we heard on the radio Elvis had died. I can think of no other person in my 10 year old life that I would rather be with to hear that news.
Up until the end Tutu kept up her traveling and friendships. 2 weeks ago she visited a friend in San Diego, and had a trip to Hawaii planned in October to visit a friend. I am not sure, but I think that would have been her 39th or 40th trip to Hawaii.
I wanted to scan some pictures of Tutu, but I don't have a scanner. Maybe I will do that this weekend. Thanks for reading this.
The last photo of Tutu with the Family
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