Sentimental Sunday

Maurine, age 5 - 1900

I’ve decided to begin a new feature on our blog – Sentimental Sundays. Each Sunday I plan (notice the word “plan”) to post a story from our past. We’ll take a stroll down memory lane.

Maurine Esther Moses - March 1, 1895 to July 29, 1974

My maternal grandmother, Grandma Maurine, was a working girl… back when most women were not in the workforce. She had to support my mom and herself after my grandfather ran out on them in 1925. (What a guy!)

Grandma played piano in bars, and picked up work where she could find it. Much of this time was during the Depression. One thing that she was very good at was secretarial work. She could take dictation and type faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. She supported herself all of her adult life. She worked until she was 74. A truly amazing woman that I looked up to – and miss very much!

When Grandma went to work she was always dressed fashionably. She wore high heels, beautiful dresses, and nice coats. Gloves were required in those days – and she had many pair. When she would get home after work she always came to our house first. She lived right up the street from us, but came to our house for dinner every night. I loved my Grandma very much, and I would get very excited when she got home. One of my favorite things to do was to play dress up. And, so with my held very high, with an empty ice cream carton on top, I would don my Grandmothers good coat and gloves and play dress up. She never worried that I would get anything on her good clothes; she was happy to let me play!As I grew older, I was allowed to visit Grandma’s office. She taught me to type and to file and I thought she was the greatest secretary in the world. Her boss thought she was too. And on the days that I was at home, waiting for her to get home from work, I would stand in our front yard and watch for the bus to let her off at the opposite end of our street. I would yell in the house to my mom that grandma was home, and then I would run all the way down the street, as fast as I could, to meet her and ask her about her day. I so enjoyed our stroll back down the street while we would talk and laugh.Grandma Maurine was a really great lady. She had a bigger heart than anyone I’ve ever met. How sad that it was actually her heart that finally gave out on her and took her from us. On her last day I was reading the Roy Campenella biography, “It’s Good to be Alive”. I asked Grandma to hand me my book, and as she looked at the title she said, “You know, Cindy, it really is good to be alive.” It was only a few hours later that she was gone. I find great comfort in the fact that she died as she lived – surrounded by family and enjoying life until that last minute.