Grandma
Norah with
Tara’s two sons,
Ryan (left) in
1993 and Chris
(below) in
1995.The anticipation of getting to spend time
with her was nearly too much for me, and
my parents, to handle.
Upon my arrival at her house, Grandma
would greet me at the door with a warm
smile and a hug. I would run into her wait-
ing arms and she would scoop me up and
take me inside. Once inside, Grandma
would take me straight to the candy dish
that she always kept filled with my fa-
vourite Bazooka Joe bubble gum. I would
quickly grab a handful before we moved
over to her favourite chair, so we could sit
and snuggle. Filling my cheeks with pieces
of bubble gum, I would quietly sit on her
knee and chew until the gum became soft
enough to form bubbles. Lacking a dis-
tinct flair for the art of bubble-blowing, I
once ended up with a face full of the sticky
sweet gum residue as the bubble quickly
and violently exploded. The shocked ex-
pression on my face managed to send
Grandma into a fit of giggles. Her laugh-
ter was so contagious that before long we
were both giggling hysterically as tears
rolled down our cheeks. I couldn’t help
but throw my arms around her neck and
plant a sticky bubble gum kiss on her rosy
cheek, quickly forgetting all about the
gooey mess on my face.
Grandma had a sharp tongue and a
crackerjack sense of humour. She had a
quick and witty comeback for anything
you said to her and had a peculiar nick-
name for those she loved and cared for the
most. I will never forget the mischievous
twinkle in her eye as she referred to me as
“Doughhead,” “Knothead” or “Freddy.”
With her salt-and-pepper hair, Grand-
ma was the epitome of the typical, sweet
grey-haired granny, but this appearance
was deceiving to those who didn’t know
her well. Grandma was captivated by the
WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)
and thought that the wrestler Bret Hart
was the sexiest man alive. She was an avid
watcher of the TV game show Wheel of
Fortune, loved listening to the rock group
Black Sabbath, admired Harley-David-
son motorcycles and dreamed of owning
a pet boa constrictor. When that dream
was shattered, she opted for a cat named
Tommy and a pet spider. She loved her
“baby” Tommy and took him for a walk
every day. Sporting a leash, Tommy
walked beside her obediently and listened
attentively as she spoke to him about this
and that. Thank goodness she was unable
to find a leash for her pet spider. I can just
imagine how that would have looked as
she walked down Main Street with her
pet spider and her cat Tommy on leashes.
The ruckus that would have created as the
local townsfolk tried to wrap their heads
around what they were seeing! She would
have done it, too, just to get people talking.
That was my grandma and her twisted
sense of humour.A LASTING LEGACY
Grandma Norah passed away on October 1,
2004, just shy of her 76th birthday. To me,
she was perfect; there’s nothing about her
I would have changed. She loved everyone
equally and gave selflessly of herself. She
had a pure heart and a sparkling smile that
lit up any room the moment she walked
into it. She was one of a kind and nobody
will ever come close to replacing her. 41