Rosie, Gramm and Me

For as far back as I can remember first hearing of "Rosie the Riveter" I was fascinated by her. That feisty look in her eye. The bold stance and that "can-do-attitude" of hers intrigued me.

The American icon for women in the workplace, and eventually the femininst movement, Rosie has a special meaning to those who happen to have their very own "Rosie the Riveter" in the family. Rosies were the women who did a man's job while the men were off to war during WWII. Across the country, factories turned out munitions thanks to the tireless efforts of American women in the workforce.

Despite my fascination with "Rosie" it never dawned on me that I grew up in the midst of one such Rosie. Not more than a few years ago, I was telling my mother about some kitchen linens that I had purchased in the Rosie the Riveter theme. Upon hearing this, Mom announced "Your Gramm was one of the Rosies, you know."

"No Mom, I didn't know." Gramm was a very private woman in that respect. For all the years that I was growing up and visiting my beloved Gramm, I only knew her to be a homemaker - a very good one at that. I had no idea she ever worked outside the home and I certainly had no clue that she had helped in the war efforts by doing night work at the Army Depot that was at the far end of my childhood town.

I credit Gramm with much of what I know about homemaking, practically all I know about cooking and baking, and every last bit of what I know about being a good grandmother to my own grands. She was a wonderful Gramm - I loved spending time with her. My playtime was actually love time and learning time - I just didn't know it while it was happening.

I am not much like my mother but I am a lot like her mother - my Gramm. From my love of cooking and baking, to my enjoyment of African Violets on the kitchen window sill and especially in my passion for being a grandma the kids will love to spend time with as they grow older, I am my Gramm.

Now that I know of her work as a Rosie the Riveter, I see that she and I share yet one more trait. That "can-do-attitude" of Rosie's. It was Gramm's attitude too. She was a simple woman who loved the simple joys in life and knew deep within her being how to make the most of life no matter what hand she was dealt.

The Rosie trait skipped a generation. My mom doesn't possess it... or at least I am not aware of it. She is not the "can-do-gal" that I am. And obviously she is not the can-do-gal that Gramm was. But, I am ever so thankful for the fact that Rosie's attitudes rested deep within me!

Without Rosie's traits, it is possible I would never have been able to face some of the obstacles that have been thrown in my path. Rosie's can-do-attitude was surely there when I fought to go to nursing school against my parents' wishes. Her attitude was there when I announced that I was moving out of Pennsylvania back in the early '70's. And it was definitely what saved my life when I decided that I could make it own my own as a single mom of three young girls - but that I couldn't survive if I stayed in the abusive relationship. Throughout the years, Rosie's self-confidence and empowering message have woven a thread through my very core.

It is Rosie's attitude that has helped me deal with the recurrent melanoma and find a reason to go on. It is Rosie's attitude that gave me the necessary strength to face raising my premature grandson, Caleb for the first four and a half years of his life. And Rosie absolutely must have been there when I mustered up the courage to hand him over to his birth father when the courts sided with him instead of me.

And now, as I prepare to start a whole new life as a woman in mid-life, I find that Rosie's strength, can-do-attitude and empowering images buoy me up when the roadblocks appear and they greet me on the other side of the roadblock when I have turned that power into action to move forward.

Rosie will be my companion as I venture into the land of 4seasons - I have no fear or doubt. With Rosie (and my Gramm's spirit) to guide me, I know that my future life is destined to be "the time of my life" - or is it "the time of my living" ?

Thanks Gramm!
Thanks Rosie!