Ah yes, Grandma had always been kind of blunt or at least that is what I thought about her. When I flew to New Jersey to visit her for a week. right after my freshman year of college, I found that out. At this point in time, I hadn’t seen Gma in around 5 years and as I stepped off the plane I saw this wily, little, white haired, old woman trying to push past security personnel. She was desperately scanning the passengers trying to find me. As I smiled and walked toward her, I saw her eyes fall and her mouth curled in disgust. Wow, what a greeting. I know I may be a little rotund and I won’t be winning any beauty contests anytime soon, but I hadn’t expected the look of utter rejection that was written across her face. As we met we kissed the air beside each other’s cheeks and did a light arm touch. Yep, Gma thought I was a fatty.
Now, you might be thinking that I’m a little harsh for thinking that about her. It gets better my friends, much better. Little did I know, Gma was afraid. Yes, she was afraid that I would eat her out of house and home. I didn’t notice it the first few days but I thought it weird that she never wanted me to help her in the kitchen. Heck, I am from N.D., I can cook. Things came to a head when her next-door neighbor, Palma, came over for a visit. I was introduced very civilly and genteelly and Palma seemed like a very warm and lovely woman. For the first time since I had been in N.J. Gma asked me to go into the freezer and get us all an ice-cream bar. Diligently I stood up, walked through the dining room and into the kitchen. Palma and Gma settled themselves in the living room. As I reached into the freezer my supersonic ears picked up on the conversation.
Palma: She seems like a very nice young lady. Very polite, very bright.
(At this point I am thinking to myself, “Hey, at least someone from N.J. likes me.”)
Gma: She is quite fat isn’t she? They have to be big-boned out there. You know, to take care of all the cows and etcetera.
Palma: (with a shocked voice) Terry! Don’t say things like that. She is a very lovely young girl.
Gma: She is fat. I haven’t been letting her near the icebox or cupboards all week. She might eat everything.
At this point I was simply in shock. Wow! Way to boost my self-esteem. I walked back through the dining room and into the living room. All conversation had stopped, poor Palma looked horribly uncomfortable. I gave her the biggest smile I could possibly manage and handed her an ice-cream bar. Gma and I split one.
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