Grandma

by Anne Baker
©2002

 

1

Olive Neidemeyer was bent over busily working in her garden when she heard the honk of her grandson Kevin’s car horn. It was a beautiful summer day and she had not been expecting him.

She slowly got up out her crouch and turned to see Kevin come through the gate.

"Kevin, what a lovely surprise!" She called out to him

He smiled, waved and walked towards her.

A sudden gust of wind lifted the hat off of her head and it flew in the breeze. Kevin sprinted across the yard and retrieved it easily. He laughed as he carried it back to her.

"Gotta be careful Grandma, one day the wind’s going to pick you up too!"

Kevin was twenty –four, a handsome lad, and Olive was his sole remaining grandparent.

She was also his confidant.

When they were finally together they embraced and Olive did all she could to fight back a tear.

"What a lovely surprise," she repeated, "are you in town for something special?"

All of her sudden her face took a serious expression. "Everything’s alright I home I hope."

"Everything’s fine Grandma, I just came by to talk that’s all." said Kevin with a bit of a forced smile.

Olive knew that something was bothering him so she said. "Let’s go sit on the swing and you can tell me all about it."

 

 

2

Olive and Kevin sat silently on the swing for a few moments exchanging smiles.

"Something’s bothering you isn’t it Kevin?" Olive ventured at last.

"Yeah, sort of." he answered noncommittally.

A few minutes past and Olive tried again. "It’s what you’ve spoken to me about before isn’t it?"

Kevin sat glumly and nodded.

"What you’ve been feeling – it hasn’t gone away?" she asked, probing a bit deeper.

"No. Just the opposite, it’s gotten worse."

They continued to swing silently.

"Have you talked to your parents about it?" Olive asked softly.

Kevin shook his head, "As if! Uh-Uh. They’d freak out."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Are you kidding? A nice Jewish boy like me going to drop a bombshell like that? I can hear Mom already – wailing ‘I wanted grandchildren’, and Dad he’ll break down completely ‘My only son, and you tell me this?"

"You’ve got the scenario pretty well all worked out in your mind." said Olive as she reached to take Kevin’s hand.

"I think of this day and night. It’s invaded who I am, what I’m supposed to be." answered Kevin fighting back the tears.

"Your parents will have to know one day or another so you’d better be honest with them and get it over with." Said Olive.

He turned to her. "I’ve stopped by to see you because I’ll be doing the grown-up equivalent of running away from home."

Olive grimaced and slapped him in the face.

"Ow, that hurt!" he yelled.

"Not as much as what you just told me." said Olive in a completely different tone of voice than before.

"I’m not a kid anymore…"

"So, Mister-not-a-kid-anymore, how old are you now?" asked Olive.

"Twenty four." answered Kevin.

"So, I’m seventy-four. That makes me exactly fifty smarter than you."

"So, what’s you’re point?" he said defiantly.

"My point is that you don’t come to visit your grandmother to tell her that you’re running away from home because you’re scared to be honest with you own mother and father. If you can’t be honest to them, who can you be honest to? Do you think for a minute that you can be honest to yourself even in circumstances like that?"

Olive sat waiting for an answer.

When none was forthcoming she continued. " Your parents aren’t stupid you know. They know you’re up to something."

"You didn’t say anything to them did you?" asked Kevin turning to her.

"Not a word. It’s just the little things over time. Remember when your mother caught you dressing the part when you were younger?" asked Olive softly.

Kevin shook his head and chuckled. "You should have seen her."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING DRESSED LIKE THAT? WHERE DID YOU GET SUCH AN IDEA?"

"Boy, she really freaked out." Said Kevin with a chuckle.

Olive took his hand again. "How did your father handle it?"

"What do you expect? He was shocked but he calmed down and we talked."

"Were you honest with him?" Olive asked.

"I said it was an experiment, a phase. I can’t remember, it was a long time ago."

"Believe me, I know your father. A long time ago, when he lost his father, that was difficult but it changed him. It made him more mature about life. I wouldn’t be surprised that after the initial fireworks he’d settle down and help you work things out for yourself."

"What about Mom?" asked Kevin tightening the grip on his grandmother’s hand.

"I don’t have the same feeling for her. She’s not my blood like your father is. But, let me ask you this. Has she ever truly ever hurt you in your life Kevin?"

"Mom? Are you kidding? Hurt me? She’d throw herself in front of a truck to save me." Kevin replied.

"So, why would you want to hurt your mother so badly by doing such a thing, which, by the way you tell me, you can’t live without doing, behind her back? A mother deserves that?"

"They’ve always wanted me to be a doctor." said Kevin, having taken a sudden interest in his shoes.

"So, what does that have to do with the price of gefelta fish? You can’t do both?"

"Well, I suppose." answered Kevin.

"See? I bet we’ve solved half the problem. Your parents want you to be a doctor. Wait," she said suddenly, "But do YOU want to be a doctor?"

"I have no problem with that." mumbled Kevin.

"This is excellent, we’re half way home on this. Do you feel any better Kevin? Come on, tell your grandmother you feel better." she said poking his side.

"Stop that, Grandma." he said laughing. "Ok, it makes me feel a bit better but that’s not half the problem."

"You keep coming back to what the problem is Kevin." said Olive. "Quick, I’m old, get to the part about the solutions."

"What’ll the family say?"

"Ah, let them get over it. Next?"

"What about the Jewish teachings?" asked Kevin.

Olive’s face became a bit more serious. You’ll have to talk to the rabbi about this. I cannot help you there my child."

"What about the family name and no grandchildren?"

Olive’s face twitched. "There will be sadness, how can there not be? But, for the family name, you’ve got cousins and that is already assured."

"So, you give me your blessing?"

"Blessings are not my business. Love, understanding, compassion, a shoulder to cry on – that’s my business." replied Olive cracking a smile.

Kevin sat quietly.

"You’re going ahead with this are you?" asked Olive pensively.

"I’ve already spoken to a counselor." replied Kevin quietly.

"Well, at least you’re seeking qualified help. What did they tell you?"

"They said that the way I see the world, the compassionate nature that I have are both so important in my new way of life."

Olive smiled.

Kevin looked at her and grinned. "What? What’s so funny?"

"I’m just picturing how you’ll look all dressed up."

"It’s nothing you find humorous I hope." Kevin said defensively.

"No Kevin, it’s not a funny thing at all. I’ll never see you the same way I see you now."

"I’ll still love you, you know that." he said with a smile.

"If you know what’s good for you will." said Olive in mock anger. "Just because you’ll be a Roman Catholic priest, that’s no reason to stop loving your old Jewish grandmother."

She took Kevin’s hand. "You likely didn’t think about it but last week marked the thirty fifth anniversary since my sex change operation. When I told your father, who was just a young man at the time, what I was going to do, he thought he was losing his father. You know what I told him?"

"You’ve told me a hundred times but go on." said Kevin with a smile.

"I told him, ‘You’ll always be my son regardless and I’ll always love you.’"

Olive wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Now, you get into that hot rod of yours, drive back home, tell your parents that you’re going to be a Roman Catholic priest but that they’ll always be your parents and that you’ll always love them."

Kevin helped Olive off the swing and she walked him to his car. She kissed him and said, "Where’s your hat?"

"I don’t have a hat!" he called out from inside the car.

She waved as he slowly drove away.

She wiped another tear from her eye and turned to go back to her garden. "Children today, they go everywhere without a hat and they wonder why they catch cold………"

The End

 

 

 

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© 2002 by Anne Baker. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.