My Grandfather Lied to my Grandmother

My Grandfather lied to my grandmother when he told her that he would give their son’s girl friend a warm welcome to the family.

The young lady in question was later to become my mother, and so I received the story first-hand many years on.

It had taken my father some time to sum up the courage and introduce his intended

to his parents, but the time had come and the meeting had to be faced.  My Grandfather, a veteran of the First World War was, at the time, Chief Inspector for the G.P.O. in Loughborough.  He was both respected and feared by many people in equal amounts and could be very abrupt and acerbic on some occasions.

On arrival at his family home my father introduced Sylvia and waited for a suitable response to be forthcoming.

Apparently, my grandfather proceeded to look her up and down a couple of times and then said by way of acceptance “Aint she got big feet.”  He then continued to compare his daughter’s feet in a more favourable light remarking “our Muriel has nice dainty feet.”

Mortified my mother made the best of the situation at the time, but I know for certain that she never forgave him.  During my entire lifetime my mother never again put a foot near my grandfather’s house, but she always made my lovely grandmother very welcome in hers.

To my own parents’ credit, I was never restricted with visits to my grandparent’s home and was allowed to make my own assessment of all family members. Muriel never married but looked after both her parents until they passed away. For both of my sisters, and I, we could not have had a better aunt.

I never had any real problems with “Granddad” but I always detected an underling tension in the family, even at a very young age. Families are sometimes quite strange, but as they say “life has to go on.”

David Taylor
20th May 2021