My Childhood Web: Grandma and Grandpa Domas and Grandma Clinton

Grandma and Grandpa Domas and Grandma Clinton

                When I was a young child, I was lucky enough to have both of my grandparents living within walking distance from me. There was a set of steps that when over the corner of the yard fence to my Grandma Clinton’s house, and a few houses down from my Grandma Clinton’s house was where Grandma and Grandpa Domas lived. Both of my Grandmas were very cozy, not very stern people. My Grandpa was less cozy, but I remember, when I was older and did not live so close to any of my grandparents, walking to daily Mass with my grandpa when I would visit for a week and having pleasant conversations about what we were reading. At the time, I was reading a lot about biology.

                I remember once finding out from another student that not all grandparents were as cuddly as mine. My image of all grandparents was that they were all the nicest people in the world. I didn’t know how lucky I was. Because my grandparents were so nice, they all got along, and when my grandma and grandpa Domas were too sick to take care of themselves, my Grandma Clinton lived with them and took care of them. My Grandma Domas had been a teacher. My Grandpa Domas was a painter and carpenter, and my Grandma Clinton was a nanny for judges and doctors who went to the church where my parents met. My mom had four Domas siblings and my dad had eight Clinton brothers that my grandma spent many years raising herself after her husband died.

                Later, we moved away from my grandparents, so every summer we had the opportunity to stay with my grandparents for a week. When I went to Grandma Domas’s, I learned how to crochet from her and watched game shows and did crossword puzzles with her. She was also a good cook, and we got to go grocery shopping with her after creating the week’s menu. One of her favorite sayings was “lep it go.” This meant when something makes you angry, move on and don’t keep being mad. When I went to Grandma Clinton’s house, I remember going to Mass with her, playing the guitar and singing for her, and playing cards with her and her friends. Although we lived in California, Grandma Clinton and her friends had raised their children in Philadelphia and both my Grandma and Grandpa Clinton had come from Ireland before they were married. My grandma and her friends used to tell stories about their time in Philadelphia, and my Grandma Clinton used to tell stories about her youth in Ireland. My time with all my Grandparents was special because I either went by myself or with one other sibling. I got a lot more concentrated attention when I was with my grandparents. My time with my Grandparents was never about what I would do with my life. It was like being in the eternal present with all that mattered being what we were doing at the moment.