Harry and Susan Madden

February 9, 2012

These are my maternal grandparents, Susan and Harry Madden.  This was in October of 1974, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
Grandpa was a carpenter.  He was a perfectionist who helped me learn that anything worth doing was worth doing right.   He was a quiet man for the most part.  He never raised his voice; he didn't have to.  All he had to say was, "Terri Jo." in that quiet, powerful voice and I knew I had crossed the line.  It was more devastating than being yelled at!  Grandpa was funny, patient, fastidious about his cleanliness, and loving.  He was gruff when he was worried (such as when I took my gloves off on the way home from school so I could play in the snow and he was afraid I had frostbite).  I remember playing games at the kitchen table, watching Roller Derby on TV while we ate lunch, Grandpa drying the dishes while Grandma washed them, picking vegetables from the garden, building things in the backyard with scrap wood he kept in the garage, and the swings he made and hung in the tree for us.  Grandpa ate "to keep from getting hungry" and loved tomatoes (for all three meals) and ice cream.  Grandpa had a stroke in November of 1983 and died in January of 1984. I still miss him.  I was thankful to be in Wisconsin at that time and to be able to make the trip to Indiana several times to see him and to be with Grandma.
Grandma was, for the most part, a homemaker.  She did work at JC Penney at one time.  She sewed, crocheted, baked, cooked, canned, kept a garden, taught my sister to whistle, watched her "stories" in the afternoons, and was very crafty.  She was a two-time survivor of breast cancer, struggled with her vision, and lived until her mid-90s. I loved to sit with her and listen to her talk about her childhood and her early years with Grandpa and hold her hand (she had the most amazingly soft hands). I still miss her. She and Catherine had a special relationship.  When Catherine was 3 months old, Grandma laid her on the dining room table to play with her because she could see her better there.  As Catherine grew older she would crawl up in Grandma's lap to talk, and "read" to her since Grandma couldn't see to do the reading.  The two of them would talk and laugh and play for hours.
When Diana and I were at their house, we would often end up in their bed with them in the mornings.  The four of us would talk and laugh for quite a long time until finally Grandpa would claim we were pushing him out of the bed and he'd get up.
One of the most vivid memories I have of Grandma and Grandpa is that they held hands everywhere they went.  It's a beautiful picture to have in my mind.