so i told you i would tell you about my grandma. she had a heart attack last week (she's okay) and it reminded me how i only know so much about her and how we might not have that much time to get to know eachother better.
jacqueline stevenson was born in portland, or in 1917 (i think?). i believe her grandma came over to oregon on the oregon trail in, literally, a covered wagon. her grandma, cora stevenson, was from norway. can you imagine that? taking the boat to NYC, and riding with your new husband across the country in a covered wagon?
anyhow, i know that her father did something at reed college (caretaker i want to say?). they lived in campus housing when she was a little girl.
at 92 she is still at least 5'8" and she was at least that growing up. in the 20's and 30's that was very tall for a woman. she always says that her height was the reason it took her so long to find a husband.
i don't know too much about her childhood, but i know she went to university of oregon to earn her bachelor's degree in home economics before joining the red cross during WWII. she was shipped to africa for an aid mission. she spent some time in morocco and algeria, where i believe she met my grandfather.
scandolously, i believe my grandfather, weston brockway, was married to another woman and had 2 children when they met in morocco. as it goes, they fell in love. my grandma says that grandpa weston (who was a clasically trained pianist and later a high school music teacher) would play her songs every night in the USO (under the guise of entertaining the troops). they married and moved to hartford, ct where my father was born.
they eventually moved to eugene, or where they raised my father and aunt susie (who in the 60's renamed herself "sioux"). she worked as a home economics teacher (I remember her telling me her favorite thing to teach was how to make deviled eggs). in 1963, weston died tragically of a heart attack and grandma was left to raise my father and aunt by herself.
after his death, she went back to school and earned a Ph.D in psychology. she trained to be a sex therapist, of all things, and spent many years doing that.
she has also dabbled in art throughout her life and this grew into a full-blown passion by the time my memories of her start. when i was a child, she traveled the world, painting watercolors from all over the world. her favorite place to paint was santorini, greece. her paintings are beautiful and are such a part of my memory.
my favorite gift is still the painting of mont saint michel she painted at my request. we used to pour over books about monet and when she traveled to giverny, she painted me a picture of monet's garden. when she visited us in alaska, she would host "painting class" at our kitchen table and teach my mom and me techniques.
my favorite memories are from the townhouse she had in beaverton, or. she lived in a light, airy white townhouse that was surrounded by flowers. i remember walking with her on the grounds and she would teach me the names of different plants. i still remember her blowing my mind when she explained that the color of hydrangea can change if the soil changes. my little 10 year old brain was like "what????!!". she had (and still has) a little kitchen table painted with still life scenes. when i stayed with her, she would always include me in her night time routine which was tea and a handful of shortbread cookies. she would also take me to the pool in the summer - i don't remember the pool, but i remember the walking.
she loves tea cups and flowers, poetry and politics. she always has a good story to tell about the family, or her life. she is as she has always been - irreverant, funny, harsh, sweet, startilingly intelligent, tall, strong, and loving.
