Memorial Day is traditionally dedicated to remembering the brave men & women of the United States who have died in combat defending our great country. But for this Memorial Day, I wanted to remember 2 other people whom I dearly love and will never forget, my dearly departed grandparents, W. George and Marion Claire Pike. I loved my mother's parents.
My Grandpa Pike was a big man. I didn't know that much about him, other than I loved him. I think he was an architect who worked for the city of Malden. My fondest memory of my Grandpa was while I was playing on the carpet or sitting on the couch and he was watching a football game on TV on the weekends. He used to sit in his leather recliner, put the foot rest up, smoke his cigar and would yell in his booming, excited voice, "TOUCHDOWN! GREEN BAY!" when the Green Bay Packers scored a touchdown. I would run around yelling the same thing, imitating my Grandpa: "TOUCHDOWN! GREEN BAY!" All without having any idea who the Green Bay Packers were or even what a touchdown was. Sadly my Grandpa Pike died of a heart attack shortly after pulling my ATC out of a snowbank. The exertion must have been too much for his heart. I remember feeling so guilty and responsible for his death at the time. Both of my parents were devestated and it was my first real experience with death and losing someone I loved. I didn't know what a wake or a funeral was before then. It was very hard for our whole family and especially my grandmother. But he was a great man in time when that was actually true.
Nana Pike I knew quite well. I remember her sitting at our dining room table in Amesbury doing a puzzle, smoking a Tarynton cigarette with her glasses on a chain or around her neck. Nana Pike used to love to do puzzles. My brother and I used to get her puzzles for her birthday and for Christmas. We used to get her 1000, 2000, even 3000 piece puzzles. And sure enough in just 1 or 2 days, no matter how hard the puzzle was, it would be done. I don't know how she did it, but she always did those puzzles so quickly. And she was so smart, we used to joke in my family about how we were sitting on a million dollars with Nana Pike, if only we could get her to go on Jeopardy or Wheel Of Fortune.
I actually have my Nana Pike to thank for taking me on my first trip to New York City to see a Broadway show. I had to have been 13 or 14 years old. Neither one of us knew our way around the city. She would say the theatre was in one direction, and I would say it was in the other. I would convince her to go my way and we would start walking, and sure enough, she was right. We were walking in the exact opposite direction. We had to walk all the way back and then to the theater. Nana would get the tickets for the shows and we went to see Les Miserables together, Phantom of the Opera, and I'm sure a couple of other shows I don't recall. Every time I go to New York City I say a little prayer for my Nana.
I have such fond memories of my two dearly departed grandparents. I wish I had them in my life longer. I know they are looking down and watching out for me from heaven. And it makes me even more thankful for the grandparents that I have had my entire adult life.
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