Thursday, September 23, 2010

Magpie #33

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/

Willow's writing meme
Write a poem or vignette using the
below photo




She had garish red hair that was pulled off of her forehead with a sequined bobby pin,and her nails were always a whorey shade of red.   When she would come over to visit she would plant herself on our nicest chair and begin her demanding. My mother in an effort to please her mother, always gave her what she wanted and I was often used as a go between....bringing her beer after beer...having to suffer the smell of her perfume that was obviously poured onto her body before she arrived. I have since learned that the name of it was Acqua di Parma....the favorite scent of movie stars from the 30's. That figures. She had a delusional opinion of herself..and it wasn't of being a loving grandmother...but rather of being a pioneer woman of the 40's striking out on her own...divorcing my grandfather...joining a cult like religion.  She thought herself a woman better than the ordinary women of her circle....she dabbled  being into herbs and natural foods...way ahead of her time if it were true. And maybe there was a bit of her that was ahead of her time....but she didn't live a natural life as we know it today. Instead she brought shame onto my mother and heartache to my grandfather. She threw off the dictates of her faith and lived as a free woman. But she wasn't free,she was only dependant in a different way.  When she realized her big mistake it was too late...grandpa had remarried. He survived the depression and he survived her leaving. I called someone else grandmother.
I never wear perfume...couldn't think of it...and I never wear red polish on my nails. I know this is foolish..gives her power still over me even though she is dead 30 years.
I am a grandmother now, and I am forever thinking of what she was unable to enjoy in her life,
what she was unable to see as her treasure.
She never changed. She was always self-centered and saw others as the cause of her unhappiness.
It is me that has changed. I only have forgiveness for her
 and compassion for the unknown suffering inside of her that loved Acqua di Parma.

Magpie tale of fiction # 33

29 comments:

  1. You painted that very clearly, family does indeed have a lasting effect on us and forgiveness is always best if it can be done, well written Suz.

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  2. A beautiful image of a willful woman. We all have to be what we have to be. I somehow think there is a little bit of "willfulness" in you. You are a strong, independent -- think for yourself woman. So glad to know you, and to read what you write! There is something you wrote several weeks ago, I must go back and find it, as it has been circling in my thoughts, off and on since then. Thanks

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  3. Deborah...whether we want it or not!
    Annell...you are too smart
    I haven't quite figured out how to catagorize myself
    but I don't see myself as willful
    I am bendable &
    cooperative...
    I am a mess of contradictary loves and magic..with a tad (big tad) of gypsy wanderlust

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  4. Suz, that was a wonderful snapshot of a woman maybe ahead of her time but who lost a lot on the way.
    That line you wrote

    'I called someone else grandmother.'

    Wouldn't that be the most devestating thing that could happen to us, even though I am miles from that phase yet, my kids are young.
    I am with you on the gypsy wanderlust!!

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  5. Suz, this is just an amazing piece of writing!!!

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  6. Another good one Suz, I always enjoy your stories. :-)

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  7. Well, well, well... This is just superb. Nice Magpie. Love and Light, Sender

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  8. A wonderful write 'a whorey shade of red' and the title 'grandmother' don't usually go together. Each of us is so different; sometimes it's hard to understand how others think.
    I too like magic and gypsy-like wanderlust.

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  9. A very thought provoking story and a lesson in how to paint a story with words. Like it

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  10. Very nice and thought provoking.

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  11. She seems to have left a trail of chaos, but maybe she saw herself through a different filter? Bohemian, early hippie? Quite a memorable portrait..

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  12. Wow that hit a little close to home for me. Very nice writing.

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  13. Whoa...this must have been a very cathartic write.

    Very powerful, descriptive writing

    Rene

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  14. Insightful and well crafted story. There are many women caught in that trap, I think!

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  15. Wow, I can see you as the little girl carrying a can of beer.
    I'm so glad that you are back:)

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  16. ah- good story/memory telling. Your grandchildren are lucky to have you.

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  17. Such a powerful story, I was enthralled I loved the whorey red nail polish, I wondered if it was true? Whatever it was gripping!

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  18. Was she a rebel, original feminist, or ahead-of-her-time hippy chick? I suspect that YOU see her treasure, simply from your last line in having "compassion for the unknown suffering inside of her..." That in itself is, perhaps, part of YOUR treasure!

    Rick

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  19. Very well laid out story that teased me to follow it until the end. It certainly caused me to think how ironic it is that the dead can remain with us, still controlling our actions, years after they are gone.

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  20. Very gd story. She made her choices & didn't care what others thought. She missed out on sm things. But I guess she was willing 2 pay the price.

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  21. I was torn between liking her and seeing the devastation she brought. Its sad that her grand daughter called someone else grandmother, I wonder if she knew her loss. But then there's the whorey red nail varnish, a great phrase, and a part of me, has a soft spot for this lady. well written too!

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  22. wonderful write...forgiveness for family is something i had to learn...i had some much like this...but there is freedom in letting go...nice magpie!

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  23. Suz i can relate to the piece of powerful prose very much...i had a difficult step mother...and there are many things that i do now as an adult, that are my statement to the world and myself that i will choose to be a giving and compassionate person...in many ways she influenced me...by being an example of what I did not want to ever be...
    :-)

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  24. Stepmothers, wicked aunties for me, eccentric grandmothers...those who unconsciously shape our thoughts, teach us even though the lesson is of that we wish not to be.

    Thank you.

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  25. By the way, Suz - great magpie that just draws me in.

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  26. "When she realized her big mistake it was too late..." Too often we don't appreciate what we have until we've lost it. Very descriptive nagpie.

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  27. 'a whorey shade of red' - I like that. It tells you exactly what colour it was. A sad woman on a continual search, but not knowing for what. Great Magpie.

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  28. A lesson if freewill and independence, though, not what some of would choose. Hopefully, we are a bit more refined.

    Great magpie.

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  29. you always make my jaw drop.

    love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

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