At Grandma's House

By Seung Geel Hong

This short biography highlights some of the memorable events in the life of my grandmother Gerica White. Her life spanned 87 years, having lived through the better part of the 20th century. ---- Joel Scott

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387627608

Book preview

Prologue

My grandmother Gerica White, or Geri as she was called by her family-members and friends, was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1908.  Ypsilanti (Ypsi for short) is the home of Eastern Michigan University.

Anyway, Grandma Geri was the eldest daughter of Austin and Haylee Allen.  And two brothers and two sisters began to arrive when Grandma was four years old, and when she entered the fourth grade, she would wake up early and feed her two siblings before going to school.  The remaining two siblings were not born yet.

Later, when her siblings became old enough to attend school, Grandma would feed them their breakfast and then fry pancakes for their sack lunches, which was all that her parents could afford.

Interestingly, sixty-seven years later, at a Christmas family gathering near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the youngest sister Jo (short for Jolene) would comment:

"Gee, I was so embarrassed that I would go and eat my pancake in the woodshed. . . ."

In response, Grandma would frown and retort:

"Not me; I wasn’t a bit embarrassed:  I felt very fortunate to have that pancake. . . ."

In any event, during her high school years, Grandma had very few friends, but she did have one special friend named Mary Lou Cooper.  And during her freshman and sophomore years, they were always together:  They ate lunch together; they studied Math and English together, and they walked halfway to-and-from school together.  Most importantly, they talked about boys together, such as how to attract a boy’s attention by accidentally bumping into him.

Then, during the summer break between her sophomore and junior years, Grandma met a boy, named Leon Engels, who was two years older than Grandma was; and they married secretly when Grandma was halfway through her senior year.

She went to work at night while she was still attending school, and no one (except Mary Lou and the principal) was aware of her situation until graduation day.  The entire graduating class and the audience gave her a standing ovation when they learned that Grandma had refused to quit school after getting married, and she had struggled relentlessly to complete her education.

Grandma and Grandpa Engels

Unfortunately, Grandma Geri and Grandpa Leon were not a good match:  Grandma was outgoing, while Grandpa Leon was more of a stay-at-home person when he was not working.

Grandma enjoyed talking to people, even talking to complete strangers, and she also enjoyed participating in social activities.

For example, in mid-November of her first year of marriage, Grandma entered a cake-baking contest at her church.  And she spent 12 days planning and gathering her materials-and-ingredients before she began the actual baking.  Then, in 24 hours, she made a cake that looked like a house in a fairy tale.  She won the contest hands down.

Yes, Grandma enjoyed interacting with others.  But Grandpa Leon, on the other hand, was an introvert.  At the time, he worked as an electrician.  He was a hard worker, and he had no trouble working with others.  However, whenever he had completed a job, he would immediately drive straight home so that he could forget everything that had happened at work.  And after dinner, he would read the newspaper or listen to the radio before going to bed.  His daily routine seldomly changed. Unless there was an unexpected event or an emergency, Grandpa Leon’s routine was the same, day in and day out.

According to Grandma’s account, even when Grandpa Leon was not working, they rarely went anywhere except to buy the things they