I Should Be Sad

We received word today that my grandmother passed away. I should be sad. The truth is, I hardly knew her. She was my paternal grandmother. I believe that she and my mama didn't see eye to eye over the years so we didn't visit with her much. I really think when it comes right down to it she was bat-shit crazy. This is the grandmother that wore hot pants and multi colored clogs while walking down mainstreet during the middle of the annual 4th of July parade. She wasn't in the parade-just wandering freely while the parade took place around her. This is also the same grandma that showed up one day to my place of employment. Back in the day I was a qualifier for a membership type vacation seller. If you received one of our letters in your mailbox and agreed to take a tour of our property, you could win all sorts of valuable prizes. Things like toasters and quilts and emergency radios. She received one of the letters, she slipped by me and one of my co-workers pre-qualifed her so she was eligible to take a tour of the property. You should have seen the excitement on the salesman's face when he returned to the common area and ran to get the "closer". The big boss that finalized the contracts when someone agreed to purchase a membership. The salesman was new and this was his first "Eagle" contract (big membership, big commission). Whenever someone sold an "Eagle" membership everyone would gather in the common area and clap, making the purchaser feel like a rock star. Only trouble was that when I walked in there and realized that we would be hooting and hollering for my grandmother I think I turned three shades of pale. She had no money. She was happily signing on the dotted line when I pulled the closer to the side. He confronted my grandma about this slight exagerration and she told him she just wanted to get her quilt.

I would love to be able to remember my grandma as an eccentric loving old woman, but she wasn't. That is what makes me sad.