One grandmother is a monochrome photograph
other people’s eloquent stories
even the only grandchild she lived to see
cannot now remember her
She was
tall, stylish and elegant on my grandad’s arm
smiling enigmatically at the camera
the wife he still mourned deeply
twenty years after her untimely death
She is
the reason I can write this
for she saved her premature baby sons lives by
determination and ingenuity when the midwife
left them for dead
So maybe she is not absent at all
Copyright © 2023 Kim Whysall-Hammond
This poem is published for Dverse, where the theme is Grandmothers. My paternal grandmother died a year before I was born, but she still had a great impact on my life…..
The Cheesesellers Wife 
Wonderful tribute. :)
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Thank you!
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Wow. That’s real mother tiger stuff. I’m sorry you didn’t meet her – she sounds great. And a mother of sons, like you.
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Yes, I’m sorry too! Most Whysall families are only sons, it seems (Whysall is my maiden name).
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Bless your grandmother for knowing how to keep her child alive! Amazing story.
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Apparently she wrapped the underweight twins in cotton wool and put them near a constantly steaming kettle in her warm kitchen. They were fed using pipettes. They were each about 2lb in weight. The midwife told the family doctor that the twins had died. He didn’t know any different until they caught measles at age seven!
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Dedicated and inspired mum!
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Not absent at all. Her spirit weaves through your words. (K)
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Thank you!
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Oh love that last line… !!
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Thank you Rajani. I have a penchant for killer last lines! ;)
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I had goosebumps reading your poem! What a lovely photo. The last line told me she’s alive in you! I loved this!!
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Thank you Colleen, much appreciated!
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You’re so welcome.
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People like her never die. So behave yourself :)
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Oh, I’m going to be in so much trouble! 😉
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Ha ha!
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😂
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Not absent at all. What an amazing story about how she saved the twins. They were such an attractive couple! Am I wrong, or were people more glamorous back then? My older relatives seemed impossibly glamorous, compared to the generations who followed.
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I think they dressed up to go out far more than we do. People wanted to look like Hollywood stars!
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I am so sorry you never got to to meet her, she sounds fabulous and looks so as well.
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Doesn’t she just!
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She had a powerful influence on your life, I’d say! Amazing…thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Lynn
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Lovely post and poem, Kim.
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Thanks Jim!
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A wonderful tribute to your grandmother Kim! :-)
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Thank you!
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A thought-provoking tribute
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Thanks Derrick!
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Sad and heartwarming. What a great tribute to your late Grandmother.
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Thank you Patrica
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Sorry you did not get the know this wonderful woman. I love the photo!
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