I was named Margaret Grace after my grandmothers. Margaret, the very proper Scottish woman who wore beautiful floral dresses, gloves in the afternoon, crossed her legs ever-so-elegantly, drank very strong black tea, and read tea leaves. To this day I continue to drink tea, not coffee. She taught me the proper way of saying scones. Did you know they originated in Scotland?  The O sounds like awns in Scots. She scoffed at the Brits long O pronunciation (like owns) and said this pronunciation evolved from the upper class British speaking “down through their noses.” When she would visit I enjoyed long afternoons with her learning to make her mouthwatering scones and chocolate chip cookies while hearing stories about the faeries from the Highlands, dragonflies and the black Irish. We talked about nicknames for Margaret and one day came up with Maggy. She was tall, thin and very beautiful with captivating big, brown eyes.

Grace, my Italian grandmother taught me how to smile and laugh!  She loved flowers as do I and I have very fond memories of her in her gardens. In the summertime she smelled of sweat and tomatoes on the vine. She was a fantastic cook, a peasant cook, which I came to realize, meant that everything was fresh from her gardens and homemade. She lived close by so I spent quite a bit of time with her. She loved dunking her homemade Italian cookies in coffee. She would warm up milk and h0ney for me so I could join her in the pure joy of dunking biscotti! She was a tiny, but mighty woman. She birthed four sons and daughter. The daughter her last born is my mum.

Both of my grandmothers outlived their husbands by many years. Although they were remarkably strong, dignified women as the years passed I witnessed both of them suffering not only from physical pain, but also, from grief, loneliness, and I suppose, broken hearts. For all of their hardships each of them carried on imparting their poise, wisdom and strong sense of self to me. In essence, they helped me to discover who I was at a very young age and in turn I learned how to stay true to myself. Although both of my grandmothers are long gone I continue to pay homage to Margaret and Grace, as I remain grateful for their influence in my life and am a curious combination of the two.

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