Today I am going to write about my Granny Mabel, whom I lived with for about seven years
The first thing you have to understand about Granny Mabel was that she was really bad about nagging. She would get it in your head that you just had to do what she wanted you to and pester you about it over and over, constantly, until you either agreed or bit her head off. The things that she nagged you about were sometimes legitimate, like “caco, you need to eat more vegetables,” or “caco, you need to drink more water,” or “caco, you need to walk with me at the Shopping Mall more.” But sometimes they were just … hair-brained. I remember one time, the news in the ’90’s was full of stories of a renowned “Earthquake Predictor” who claimed that a huge quake was soon to hit the San Madrid Fault near Memphis. He had it predicted down to the day. Granny Mabel actually pestered all her family and friends that they should head North, away from the Fault, for at least the weekend. Of course we all ignored her, and of course nothing happened. It made me wonder why that “earthquake predictor” ever got any notoriety in the first place.
Going hand-in-hand with nagging, of course, is worrying, and Granny Mabel was definitely an All-Star MVP at that. She would tie herself into knots imagining all the bad things that could happen to herself or her family or friends. She viewed it as her “worst sin” and was constantly praying to the Good Lord Above to take away her worrywort nature. I have inherited this aspect of her and find myself knotted up with bad anxieties on occasion, although it hasn’t been that bad lately, with the addition of Depakote to my concoction of medications.
I got to where I could barely tolerate the nagging, and so I spent a lot of time biting her head off rather than taking her suggestions. I would snap at her all the time, like the stereotypical fat, basement-dwelling nerd living with his Granny and mooching off of her good will. I would have friends comment to me frequently, especially Bill (who is very respectful to his family), that I shouldn’t talk to my Grandma like that. This is one of my greatest regrets regarding her, after she died, that I didn’t treat her more gently. But she just had a way of . . . getting under your skin. I had Uncle Bill tell me once that he was glad I lived with her, because I took her attention off the rest of the family. He couldn’t stand being around her either.
There was a room in Granny’s house that I came to claim as my own. I put my computer in it, so of course it became the most important room in the house for me. It was a room “added on” to the house and it didn’t have a bed in it, even though Granny had plenty of spare beds. I could sleep anywhere back then, so I either curled up in an old recliner when it was time to sleep, or spread out a sleeping bag on the floor with some pillows. Then, when the next morning came, I would just wake up and hop straight back on my computer.
I have good video gaming memories of living with Granny Mabel. The two biggest games were probably Fallout and Final Fantasy VII, both of which came out in 1997.
The first time I played through Final Fantasy VII I did a “blind run,” just playing the game naturally without any grinding or seeking out easter eggs. I remember Darron worked at a Video Rental Shop, and I hadn’t bought a PlayStation yet, so he loaned one to me along with the game. The PSX had been used so much though, that it had a tendency to overheat, so I was always having to interrupt play and put the PlayStation in the fridge for a few minutes. Probably not a good idea, but I did it anyway. Then me and Bill played through the game again doing a “completionist run” with a GameFAQ by Kao Megura. We found all the secrets, maxed out our guys to level 99, and dominated the game. It was fun.
The first time I saw Fallout was in our local Wal-Mart. Bill pointed it out to me on the shelf, and examined the box for a few moments. He said, “Hey, caco, why don’t you get this? It looks like it might be a good game.” I dismissed it as something I had “never heard of,” foolishly so, and we moved along. Later Bill visited me again and I had bought the game based on a review I had read of it. I had never played it however, so Bill started playing it and loved it. He strongly recommended I start a game as well. So, I was introduced to the world of Ghouls, Super Mutants, and the Brotherhood of Steel, and loved every minute of it as well.
Granny Mabel was a passable cook, though nowhere near as good at it as Granny Bernadette was. I remember Granny Mabel always created “mashed potatoes” by just . . . smushing them up with a fork . . . the potatoes would have little lines in them from the fork’s tines. Granny Bernadette always whipped hers with a mixer, and added a little cream so they would be ultra smooth. I think my favorite dish of Granny Mabel’s was her fried chicken. It was greasy and delicious. With Granny Bernadette, however, her fried chicken was always too well made — drier, crunchier, with a proper skin. My favorite dish of hers was actually Shrimp Spaghetti, which I believe I have discussed in a previous entry.
Back when Granny Mabel was alive, we would have two Christmases, one for Granny Bernadette and my Dad’s side of the family, and one for Granny Mabel and my Mom’s side of the family. The latter was about the only time I ever got to see my uncle, aunt, and cousins from up near Cincinnati. There was always a little bit of resentment between all of us because of the way Granny Mabel talked about us. She was always bringing up the accomplishments of others to prompt them to do better in their own lives. It definitely didn’t do a good job of provoking family unity, which would bear bitter fruit after her death.
Granny Mabel died in 200X of a sudden heart attack. Since her death, I have frequent dreams that she is alive, and using some sort of artificial means to sustain herself. She is still nagging and harassing me from beyond the grave, and sometimes I turn on her and start hissing, “You’re supposed to be deaaad! You’re supposed to be deaaad!” until she dissipates like a ghost. I guess I’ll never be completely free of the influence of my Granny Mabel.