She wanted to be a writer and began a casual job at Woolworths during the Christmas holidays when she was 15. There she met and fell in love with my grandfather, never returning to school and marrying him at the tender age of 21!
My mother, Lorraine, was born in 1958, followed by my Aunt Michelle in 1961.
My grandmother left Woolworths to become a housewife when her children were born, returning to work as a cleaner when my mother was in high school.
My grandparents divorced in the mid 70s and I, their first grandchild, was born in 1989. My grandfather remarried and has since past away. Grandma Dot lives alone in a townhouse and is now 80.
With Grandma as a baby.She is very active and goes out walking every day at 5am (God knows why when she is retired!), out to lunch with her friends and enjoys reading.
My 'G Ma' ( as my sister and I like to call her) has always been there for us. I remember going to her house as a kid and being allowed to pick a treat from her famous lolly jar. Her house was always the place where we were allowed to drink soft-drink (as illegal as crack-cocaine at my place) and watch videos all day.
Sometimes my sister and I would go to Grandma's at night and indulge in ice-cream with rainbow sprinkles and strawberries dipped in sugar while watching typical old-people shows like 'Inspector Rex', 'The Bill' ( G Ma's favourite) and 'Faulty Towers' ( which, at 5, I thought was absolutely hilarious).
More recently, my sister and I have started taking turns visiting her and taking her out for coffee or lunch.
On each of the many times I 'ran away' from my parents when I was a teenager I drove to Grandma's house ( where she would secretly ring mum and dad to let them know I wasn't doing drugs or hanging out at a raging house party).
Over the years, she has become a trusted advisor on everything from heartache to university study to how to make plants grow ( in case you are wondering you sprinkle her obsession product (Epsom Salt) onto the soil).
She makes me laugh. She sometimes drives me crazy. But I love her with all my heart.
I have asked my grandma to write some entries for 'Hell in High Heels?' detailing her life in the 1950s. Look out for my her insightful 'What Was it Really Like?' posts throughout the blog.
I hope they are as special to you as they are to me.
My Grandma Dot and I.
