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Grandmothers really know how to embarrass you

Unfortunate incidents where my mother's mother humiliated me and my brothers.

By Cheryl E PrestonPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
9

My brothers and I were raised by our grandmother who was overzealous in caring for us. She said that nothing was going to happen to us on her watch and she went out of her way to make this true. When I was 16 and my brothers 14 and 15 our church held the annual Sunday School at Fairystone State Park near Martinsville, Va. When grandma Pony found out there was a lake for swimming she went ballistic and said none of us were going to drown while she was in charge. I did not know how to swim but my brothers went swimming at local "water holes" with friends in our community.

On the day of the picnic, I had gone for a walk with a few girls just before lunch. As we were heading back to the campground we heard a lot of commotion and just as we neared the beach I saw my grandma. She had pulled a branch from a tree and was stomping down towards the water because my brothers had gone swimming without her permission. My siblings only wanted to have fun with the other guys and were not really trying to be disobedient. Our grandma was strict and the other children teased us because she held such a tight reign on us and it was embarrassing.

Now grandma Pony was stepping into the water as she yelled at my brothers to come out. I was simply mortified and began crying for them as everyone around us had a good laugh. My grandma was hitting at my siblings with the switch she made from the tree branch and dragging one of them with her other hand. My other brother ran behind crying with his face red from the humiliation. The neighborhood children talked about this all summer and each time they did I felt sick to the stomach. I did not understand why my grandma had to be so extreme.

Two years later, just after I turned 18 Michael, the man I later married came to visit one Sunday night. He lived 10 miles away and rode with a friend named Johnny who was dating one of my close friends. At 2:00 AM Johnny had not come to pick Michael up and I was getting sleepy. I had an 8:00 class the next morning at the local community college. We were seated on the living room couch talking and I could hear my grandma moving around in her bedroom. She was making noise to let me know she was awake and did not approve of Michael being there so late on a school night.

We went outside to sit on the front porch and twice out of the corner of my eye I saw my grandmother spying on us through the dining room window and I was alarmed. She was like someone on the warpath and acting like she was going to catch us having sex. She often stomped through the house announcing that I was not going to date because boys only wanted one thing as if she could control my natural instincts to fall in love. I could hear her feet stomping and knew she was up to something and I was right.

At about 3:30 AM I could see her through the front door, which was ajar. She was in the hall flipping through the telephone book. She dialed a number and I held my breath. Surely she was not going to do what I was thinking but she did. Right in front of me and Michael she called his home and woke his mother. My grandma was screaming that I had to go to college the next day and that "her son" was keeping me up and a bad influence. I was so ashamed that I wanted to hide somewhere and I know I turned several shades of red. I felt so bad for Michael who had n0 control over the fact that his ride had not shown up. I believe one of the worst ways to be humiliated is as a teenager with an overbearing parent or grandparent.

Embarrassment
9

About the Creator

Cheryl E Preston

Cheryl is a widow who enjoys writing about current events, soap spoilers and baby boomer nostalgia. Tips are greatly appreciated.

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