The Helenator!

In a first, I am writing a blog based on a request. After the blog about my grandfather, my mother in law (MIL) asked me to write one about her mom, my wife's grandmother. Due to my love and devotion for my MIL, I am gladly typing away.


The Helenator (as my wife's grandmother will henceforth be referred to) is quite the force of nature, and can be summed up with one term......spitfire! She may not always leave the best impression, but she definitely leaves one. The first time I met her she left one on me, literally. I was at my MIL's store she owned to see my future wife, but we had only been dating a few weeks. I was standing at the counter, when I received a swift kick in the ass. Wheeling around, I was surprised to see my attacker, a short stout woman in her sixties, who looked like she was ready to give it another go. I wasn't sure how to respond, luckily my wife intervened to introduce us. The Helenator can be very playful, but beware of entering into any gamesmanship, because she is a ruthless competitor, especially at cards. You have to be a strong person to play cards with her, because she plays for blood, and is a poor winner and an even worse loser. She's like a child, who will pick up their toys and go home if they're not winning. That does not happen often, one because she is good, but also unbelievably lucky. She always seems to win when she gambles, but will never reveal how much she wins. She takes her winnings, puts them in her purse, and then is elusive when answering how she did, "ohhh, I did all right, I think I'm a little ahead".


The Helenator is kind of like a magnet, she can quickly change her polarization, and she can alternately repel and attract. An example, she knows what she wants which is good, the bad, is that she is going to get it one way or another. Her behavior at restaurants is legendary. A well off woman since I have known her, I was shocked the first time at a restaurant when she started loading up her purse with sweetener packets and creamer and then rolled up the leftover roll in napkins and stuck them in there too. It wouldn't have been a normal meal out with the Helenator if she didn't return or complain about some part of her order. One time on a trip in Europe with my wife, her parents, and her grandparents, we stopped in a place to grab a drink. The Helenator wanted coffee, and the giant dispenser was empty, she would not be denied and started berating the employees to make her some (this was late in the afternoon and the place was closing soon). At this point her husband turns and quietly walked out the door shaking his head, he had been to this rodeo before and didn't want to watch.



In a sad twist to this tale, the Helenator passed away before I could finish it. Her spirit and spunk will be greatly missed, and I'm sure she's stirring up trouble wherever she is.



Just a few last memories to share. I remember going to the horse races with her. She wouldn't ever tell us what horse she was betting, but she always seemed to win more than any of us, of course she never would tell us how much she won. One time J and I were roped into helping at party the Helenator and her husband were having for friends. Up until that point (it was early in our dating) I had really only seen a prim and proper side of J's grandparents. That party showed a whole other side, there is nothing like a couple in their early 20's trying to lead a group of inebriated, hard of hearing group of sixty-somethings in a game of pictionary that they don't understand how to play.