As Marash Girl looked at the first bloom to appear on one of the three lilac bushes gifted by her children and planted for her on Mother's Day several years ago -- gifted because of Marash Girl's memories of her mother Jennie entering the house with a joyous smile and arms laden with lilacs she had just gathered from the bushes beside the porch at the family homestead on Lowell Avenue -- Grandma Jennie, who always had a smile, never a negative word, always out there seeking to help, sweet and courageous -- courageous in her outreach to people who were in trouble, to families that needed resettlement in a new country, to folks who needed a home, a house, a community . . . and courageous in her outreach to women who were in trouble.
One memory in particular comes to mind. . .
Jennie had taken to protecting a young woman who was in an abusive relationship -- Jennie found the young woman a job, a place to stay, and provided the young woman with rides to the grocery store whenever the young woman needed to go shopping.
On one unforgettable trip to the grocery store, Jennie and her protegee were getting into the car after grocery shopping at First National Parking in Newtonville, when two thugs approached (presumably following the orders of Jennie's protegee's abusive husband) and grabbed Jennie's car keys out of her hand. Jennie, Marash Girl's mom, simply slammed her car door shut, shouted to her protégée to jump into the car, locked the car, and pulled out a second set of keys . . . "You think I'm a fool?" she laughed back at the men as she gunned the engine and roared out of the parking lot, leaving the oafs in the dust, standing and staring after her, open-mouthed.
I believe mom was in her late fifties or early sixties when this happened. There is more to this story. She found the woman a job cleaning a house in Weston owned by wealthy people. The woman did not have a driver's license, nor the funds to purchase a car. She spoke little english. Consequently, mom drove her from Watertown to Weston from our newton address, round trip every cleaning day, and throughout the winter. That was probably a one hour drive, 2x every cleaning day. Come Spring, the woman had savings, reasonably literate in English and sufficient in spoken english. What a woman, our mother was.
ReplyDeleteThe position was a live-in cook and caregiver for an elderly couple who lived in Weston. Helping all around!
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