More Memories from Grandma Sha Sha

Who is Grandma Sha Sha? Well, she is my mother's maternal grandma (my great grandma). Her birth name was Frances Fern Gilbert, but while growing up she went by her mother's husband's last name (Strickland). I have read a couple letters he wrote to her, and it sounds as if he considered her his own daughter and thought fondly of her. There was one that was particularly precious. I should find it and post it on here.

Anyway, growing up we always called her Grandma Allen (she married Walter Eugene Allen). One time when I was a grown woman with children of my own, we learned that when she was little, Grandma couldn't say her name Frances. It came out Sha Sha, so that was one of the nicknames her family used to call her. My mom and I thought that was such a cute story, we would always refer to her as Grandma Sha Sha. My kids picked up on that and only know her as such. To see the story behind the following recorded memories, see this post.

As a child, Grandma used to ride the bikes of the neighbor boys. “I would’ve given my eye teeth for a bicycle.” They would play kick the can with sticks and throw cones at each others’ forts. She used to like to wrestle with the boys until her mom told her she was getting too old. One time while playing she tore her pretty new blue dress.

Grandma said it was hard to find shoes that fit because she has a long, narrow foot. She would walk to school when she was in high school.

When asked about her jobs, Grandma said before she was married she kept house for an older lady and her son. She also dug clams with Grandpa, but didn’t get “paid” with a check.

Grandma says she never did anything crazy with her hair. She always wore her hair straight with the bangs cut straight across and never did anything with it.  After she was married, she got a permanent.

Grandma had a long history with horses. She used to ride with the Silver Stars in parades. She also took a group of 19 to Eastern Washington to ride and hired a cook. They used to go twice a year, once in summer for fun and once for hunting.

As an adult (after she was married) Grandma used to spin ropes. She would jump in and out, in front, and spin them around her. She was pretty limber. She would occasionally kick the top of the door frame as she entered the living room.

On occasion Grandma, Grandpa, Joe and Marilyn would buy a gallon of ice cream and eat it til it was all gone.