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Broke Wife, Big City
Astronaut drinks & other forms of love
By Aprill Brandon
She wasn’t my grandma. I should probably start with that. Officially
she belonged to my cousins. The matriarch on their father’s side.
But Grandma Knapke’s screen door always opened just as wide for me as
it did for her verified grandchildren. On those blazing blue summer
days, the five of us would spill out of the van and pour into her
house, stirring up small whirlpools of chaos and sound in our wake.
She was a small but vital part of my childhood, her face looming large
in my memory. And her laugh. That very distinct laugh is forever seared
into my brain. I loved that laugh. I remember wishing I was funnier as
a kid just so I could hear that laugh more often.
This was the angel who introduced me to Tang. The drink of the
astronauts. Flashy space juice. It was the most exotic thing I had ever
had. No one in my life up until then had loved me enough to let me have
Tang. Grandma Knapke let me have it by the pitcherful.
Her house smelled completely different from my biological grandma’s
familiar smelling house. It smelled foreign and therefore fancy in my
eyes.
My very intense but short-lived skateboard career began and ended in her driveway.
She took a bunch of us into town one day. Her hair was in curlers,
secured in a hair net. She didn’t care. That was the day she became my
personal hero.
Her kitchen is the kitchen I always think of when I’m reading a book
and the characters are standing in a kitchen. She’d probably be
surprised to know it was featured in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” “The
Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio” and “Little Women.”
I remember one lunch in particular, a mob of us sitting around her
table. My plate was piled comically high considering I was 7-years-old.
She cocked an eyebrow at me and said “your eyes are bigger than your
stomach.” I nodded sagely at her, like I knew what that meant. I had no
idea what she meant. But I remember thinking how wise she sounded right
before I spent the rest of the day with an agonizing tummy ache.
I got the news a few days ago. Grandma Knapke passed away at the age of
93. Leaving behind a large and loving and wonderful family.
And one freckled stray who’s eyes are still too big for her stomach.
It takes a special kind of person to open their doors to kids that
aren’t theirs. To make them feel loved. Make them feel like they
belong. It’s hard being a kid. It’s so easy to forget that as an adult.
Which is why kids need all the open doors and hugs and special
astronaut drinks as they can get.
I was luckier than most. I had the best grandma in the world. But I
also got a Grandma Knapke. A woman who took in an only child whenever
she showed up and made her feel like one of the pack.
And as I get older, and raise my own family, I can only hope I have it
in me to emulate her love and spirit. That in the end there is a person
who, when they hear my name, thinks back with a smile and remembers
sitting at my table in perfect happiness. Fancy astronaut drink
optional.
Can’t get enough of Aprill? Can’t wait until next week?
Check out her website at http://aprillbrandon.com/
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