My grandmother always worked hard. She tells the story of her grandfather not believing in play, but only in hard work:
…when my grandfather was away, my uncle put us some swings just over…there for the kids to play on. But when my grandfather came back he said there is no time for playing, we’ve to got work…
My grandmother must have gotten her work ethic from him. I cannot remember many days that my grandmother was not working. Whether it was at home or at the store, she always worked and was always busy.
I always spent at least a couple of weeks staying at her house every summer and I have vivid memories of her getting ready for working at the store in the mornings.
Every day she would wind her hair into a bun and pin it all up. She would get out her mirror, which always had the bobby pins right in the little holder and she would wrap her hair up.
She must have loved the mirror, which is now one of my most treasured possessions. When it broke Aage fixed it for her using a wing nut to hold the mirror leg.
I look at the mirror and I hear my grandmother talking to me about what work was planned for the day.
