Did you know your grandparents ?

[Arch]

I'm upset because the question smacks of ageism. I suspect that many of my age, over 50, would be hard pressed to answer this. I suspect that the question was selected by somebody considerably younger who doesn't appreciate that many of our grandfathers failed to make it through the war.

You don't have to have met someone to know their name though. I know my paternal grandfather's name, he died well before I was born. Montague Thomas Archer, he was a roller skating instructor in his youth and had a rather splendid waxed moustache.. (I've forgotton my paternal grandmother's first name, but do have a record of it. Margaret, or Mary. her maiden name was Bailey, she also died before I was born). i know all this from a bit of basic family history research.

My maternal grandfather died when I was 13 or so, and my grandmother when I was in my early 30's, so I knew them personally.

 

[LimeBurn]

Knew all my Grand Parents except one who died when I was still a babe in arms, I knew my great grandmothers too, one was called little nan and one big nan. One was fat the other was only about 4 foot tall

 

[Berties]

Only knew two close and one as a lady who turned up at xmas and they were all gone by the time I was 16

 

[Accy cyclist]

Growing up i knew one grandad and three grandmas,the oldest grandma was my great grandma. My other grandad died 2 years before i was born i've never seen a picture of him so i don't even know what he looked like. The one grandad i knew died when i was 12, i was devastated. His was the first funeral i went to,i still remember seeing him in his coffin and thinking "he only went into hospital for tests". My great grandma died a few years later followed by my dad's mum, then my mum's mum 13 years later.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

[QUOTE 3401346, member: 9609"]I spent a lot of time with my grandfarther, picking coal of the rail tracks, he also used to take me down to the rubbish heap where we would search for metals and my favourite toddler activity was getting nails and screws out of old pieces of wood. so I have really been a bit of an environmentalist all my life.[/QUOTE]

My granddad (Bob, who I mentioned earlier and offered up his name) was a "scaffie" and I used to spend hours on end at the local dump, raking through the piles of rubbish when I was a kid - my first bike came from there, as did a wooden sledge which (I hope) is still in my parent's shed. I also got to "drive" the lorry, sitting on his knee and steering it. I have a pic of me from the local paper "driving" the lorry when I was 4.

My mother-in-law made a disparaging comment about "scaffies" when I first started going out with my (now) wife - she's not made that mistake again

I have always thought that "muck" should be accessible by all, and not subject to regulation and charging.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Never met any of my grandparents, my mother's parents died when they were quite young, and my fathers father died right before the stock market crash and great depression. My fathers' mother lived until the early 1950's, a few years before I was born. My fathers father was John , and his wife was Lilly Violet. My mothers' father was William, and my mothers' mother was Hannah. Beyond that, I have it written down, my fathers' lineage goes back quite a way in the US, from early colonial times, but my mothers' family came from Bavaria on the fathers' side about time of the revolts, and my mothers' mothers' side came from Yorkshire.

 

[Saluki]

My Adoptive Pa's parents were called Archibald & Violet. He was as mad as a hatter. Oh no, scrub that. He was eccentric, rich as Croesus so not mad. No.
Adoptive Ma's parents were Kathleen & Percy (Known as Ben). After Gaga Ben died, Nan married Patrick a large Irishman who used to take me off horse racing at the drop of a hat. I left school with a good working knowledge of the English Form Book.

 

[slowmotion]

I knew all my grandparents. All of them died a long time ago. I only remember my maternal grandfather's name, Jim. He volunteered to fight on the day WW1 was declared and got sent to Mesopotamia and Egypt. I don't think anybody took a shot at him for the whole of the war but I may be mistaken.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Yes I could make some up but do you really think I'm going to be able to remember them in several months possibly several years time when I next need a password reset on this particular application ?
And in the same vein, one of the other items of 'memorable' information they request is the name of your 'best friend' at school ! They have got to be kidding.

 

[summerdays]

Well I used to be hopeless at remembering my work password as they kept making us change it, so those questions were a lifesaver, though there was one I couldn't remember but I'd just ask for another go. I remember one question was where did you go to school, and another was where you were born, and one you made up yourself - bike name for me. They have stopped making us change it so regularly now.

 

[coffeejo]

Sounds like you need a password system to help you remember. For example, you could think of an older famous person you admire whose name is somehow linked to the application (same initial etc) and use that.

 

[Keith Oates]

Claude and Lily
Sidney and Olive

Claude died before I was born but the others I remember very clearly. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[coffeejo]

re: grandparents, my maternal grandparents met during the Second World War - not sure how but she was an ambulance driver. Sadly she died when her children were still young but her husband remarried. My step grandmother is still going strong though my grandfather died several years ago. I know very little about my father's side. I assumed his father died before I was born as I never met him and there was no mention of him but it turns out he left when the kids were babies. I was scared of my grandmother when I was little. She died before I could change this opinion.

 

[vernon]

Yes I could make some up but do you really think I'm going to be able to remember them in several months possibly several years time when I next need a password reset on this particular application ?
And in the same vein, one of the other items of 'memorable' information they request is the name of your 'best friend' at school ! They have got to be kidding.

If that's all you have to complain about, I envy your life.

MTFU

 

[subaqua]

You could say your grandfather was Vernon Rockymountain.

You are unlikely to forget that. Your best friend could be Mort McGinty.

or Fnaar Sub-Goodbody that even sounds posh !