BACK IN TIME
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REMINISCE.COM/SUBMIT-A-STORY58 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2019
M
y Grandma Elsie never had it
easy. The eldest of eight children
in a poor Puerto Rican family, she
grew up in the Bronx, New York,
during the Great Depression—
when life didn’t allow for leisure time or self-
pity. She worked as a teenager to support her
family. College was never an option.
Elsie married her sweetheart, Anthony, at age
22. My grandpa was an Italian street kid who
was always getting into trouble. It was almost
unheard of in the 1950 s in their neighborhood
for an Italian to marry a Puerto Rican. Theirs
was like a real-life West Side Story.
Anthony, however, had a poor work ethic
and too many get-rich-quick schemes to bring
home a steady income, so Elsie worked in a
department store to support him and their
daughter, my mother, Loretta. In the 1960 s,
Elsie became a bank teller. She continued
working as a teller until she retired in 1999.
My mother went on to marry an Indian
immigrant and have my brother and me.
My grandfather died shortly after I was born,
and Elsie moved out to Long Island to be closerto us. She became a second mother to me.
We bonded over classic movies; she’d tell me
about watching musicals in the ’ 40 s and ’ 50 s
and how she dreamed of becoming a showgirl.
She helped me open my first bank account
and taught me to drive a car.
As I grew, I absorbed her wisdom. She
valued honesty, self-sufficiency and emotional
strength—traits that have shaped me into
who I am today. Elsie wouldn’t tolerate any
complaints about what I saw as my “boring”
suburban life.
“Listen, kid,” she’d say, “if you’re bored now,
you’re going to have a hard time in life. You
better find a hobby.”
My grandmother is in her 80 s now, living in
a little ranch house in Florida that she bought
with her life savings. I miss seeing her every
day, but I’m grateful for the reminders of her
influence on my life. I still watch classic films,
diligently save my money and find new hobbies
to cure my boredom. •GRANDMA ELSIE’S RICH LIFE LESSONS
He has a soft spot for that tough girl from the Bronx.
BY RAJ TAWNEY • PORT WASHINGTON, NYELSIE MARRIED her
sweetheart, Anthony, a kid
from the neighborhood.
Below, Raj gives his
grandma a kiss.Lasting
Impression