HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA

This is one of only a handful of pictures we have of my Grandma Donohue. This is
me sitting n her lap when I was 1.5. Some how I got the Christmas tree you see in the
background and would put it up in my room for many years until it fell apart when I was about 12.

Grandma would have been 114 today. As the story goes, I say story because my father isn't sure, she and my grandfather met when they were older and because of WWII they didn't plan on having kids. Opps. She had my dad when she was 42, not unusual back then if it was your 10th or 11th kid, but very unusual for your one and only. In stark contrast, my mom's mom was 20 when she had my mom so when I was born, Grandma D was 73 and Grandma Harrington was 42.

Grandma D was a woman ahead of her time as she always worked and was a very successful secretary. She raised my dad alone from the age of 10 when his father, Joseph Donohue, died of cirrhosis of the liver/alcoholism (ironic that I now have cirrhosis and never really drank). She had a brother, Benjamin Walsh who married but had no children. Grandpa D had 5 older sisters, none of whom ever married or had children (were they really Irish Catholics?) Needless to say, I'm the last of the Donohue line.

I don't remember much about her but I do remember her laugh, that I pulled the loose skin under her chin and said Gobble, Gobble and that she always had pennies for me and my sister when we'd visit. The day before she went into the hospital for a pacemaker, she wanted to create a memory for us and took me and my sister to Nathan's in Oceanside, NY. It was a cold and rainy day and this was a huge Nathan's with an indoor stage (for puppet shows, music festivals and plays) and game room and a small amusement park (not unlike Astro Land in Coney Island). The eating area had about 100 brightly painted metal picnic tables. The Nathan's is still there but the stage and huge eating area have been replaced by a mini mall. Nathan's still makes great hot dogs and the best french fries. I told this story during Thanksgiving dinner. See Grandma I still remember.