My Grandma Was a Badass
She even ran for mayor. That may have pissed off a few townsmen who were part of the good ole boys’ club…
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My grandma was a pioneer and a revolutionary. Born unloved to a mother who favored her sister because she was prettier and could cook like nobody’s business, she decided to not give into societal norms and became her own person.
In our ultraconservative state of Utah, she was something else, but not in the bad sense of the word. She was the toughest and most badass woman I have ever known!
Of course, she did what she had to do in the mid-1900s. She was a product of the post-Great Depression period and knew what it took to survive in those tough times. She followed what those times dictated that a woman must do; she did her duty by getting married and having five children which consisted of one daughter and four boys. Then in the early 60s, her husband suddenly passed away, forcing her to figure it out on her own. Many women would have folded under that type of pressure; my grandma decided to roll up her sleeves and go back to school to become an elementary school teacher.
They lived on a fruit farm with large orchards in northern Utah in the small town of Perry located near Brigham City. They as a family learned what a hard day’s work was and how to be strong under difficult circumstances. As a family, they harvested pie cherries and peaches, which would later become the main attraction for out-of-town visitors to our area. Brigham City peaches were known for being the best peaches for miles around. Peach Days was the local celebration that boasted a big parade and a beauty pageant featuring the town’s most beautiful girls.
Growing up was not easy on that farm. My dad recalled that to that day he was not able to look at another potato since they had learned every way to cook it, be it mashed, boiled, fried, or baked. In these times, it is common to say what doesn´t kill you makes you stronger. We were taught differently: Tough times build character and strength.
Thus, my grandma pressed on. I will never forget when she began to travel with the Farm Bureau internationally. I still remember all the treasures she brought me, like those Hawaiian souvenirs along with the beautiful embedded crystal necklaces she gave me after that trip. She visited Asia and has pictures on the Great Wall of China, Iguazu Falls in South America. She even brought me back a diamond from the Kimberly Gold Mines in South Africa. During the 70s and 80s, few women traveled anywhere. She took on the world.
She protected me as a child and in full disclosure, it was no secret that I was her favorite granddaughter; I was the first girl in the family to be born. Back in those days, there was a penny candy store called Larsen’s and she would take all of her grandkids there but let me get much more candy than the rest of my cousins. She would just wink at me and give me the green light to get more than the others…
Yes, the stories of her life were plentiful. She knew that she could run that town better than anyone, was more capable than any of those incompetent men who ran the good ole boys' club. She loved to shake things up just to piss them off. There was no way a woman would win the elections for mayor; therefore, they would gang up on her and crush her candidacy.
She was the first woman to drive a car in her town. After all, she had been driving a tractor for years. When I was 14, she decided to give us kids a true gift. She took seven of her grandkids on a three-week trip from the state of Utah where we went to visit historical sites that we could only read about in textbooks. We took my uncle’s minivan and saw such sights as museums in Wyoming, The Black Hills in South Dakota, Fort Snelling in Minnesota, and the Great Lakes in Michigan (I will never forget the beauty of the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan). We also visited Niagara Falls and even crossed over onto the Canadian side. Washington D.C., Williamsburg, and Boston (we walked the historical Freedom Trail) became powerful memories for all of us. Back in those days, they used to give tours of the White House! Those were other times and for me, truly unforgettable. It was the trip of a lifetime!
Everyone who knew her knew that she could not be shaken. No was no and there were no ifs, ands, buts, or ors… Back in the 80s, I went to live with her for two summers between college quarters while I had a summer job at Willard Bay State Park as a seasonal park ranger. I remember asking her if I could go camping with a boy and his friends. Her answer? “No, Kimberlee, no”. I insisted, “But grandma?” “No!” I knew better than to keep on asking…
In the 90s, I started working for an airline. She continued traveling while going to her Farm Bureau conventions. I asked her if I could join her in her travels. She told me that it would be boring for me but if I wanted to go, I could. She always showed me off to her fellow farmers. I loved my grandma so dearly and cherish our times together.
She was my cheerleader and confidant, the one who believed in me. She encouraged and guided me and was the only one who was nice to my Argentinean husband who could not speak good English. After all, she had kept the Mexican migrant workers in her barn for several summers during the cherry harvest seasons. She seemed to understand what it was like to be different. She was the epitome of the female rebel.
She passed away in 2004 while I was living abroad in Argentina. I did not get to say goodbye to her. She did however leave a like-minded and very badass successor behind: her granddaughter…
*Many of you have asked me if the first photo is my real grandma. It’s not, but the one below is;)
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I am a memoirist who calls a spade a spade and spares nothing when it comes to telling stories. I live in Mexico with my awesome son Dylan.
