Curiousity killed the cat!

I remember my grandmother (my father's mother) whom I had to call "Nana," often referred to me as being CURIOUS. And she didn't mean I was an inquisitive little girl, either! She meant it as an insult - although I wasn't aware of that fact until I became an adult. Then it was too late to ask her why she thought that of me - she had already passed on to Mean Nana Land by that time!

Strange how the definition of a word can become garbled, depending on where you live and the culture of your individual family unit. Curious was used also to mean odd, strange, weird, and even worse - stupid! As a little kid, I thought it was catamount to meaning something doubtful about my parentage! How stupid!

My Nana was definitely an odd person - she didn't like anyone! She lived for her beer, cigarettes, and Wrassling! I don't remember ever hearing her say anything nice about anyone or anything - except her beer, cigarettes, and Wrassling. She was a tall, angular woman with a sternness about her nobody dared challenge - except for my Dad (her favorite kid). How odd!

One time, the whole family went to Nana's (we never included Grandpa - it was always to Nana's) to celebrate her birthday. We brought her the required presents - a case of her favorite beer and a carton of Lucky Strikes. As a special surprise, Dad had bought her a new television (albeit black and white 'cuz color TV wasn't the going thing then) with a wonderful set of powerful rabbit ears. According to Nana, "The beer wasn't cold enough, the cigarettes were stale, and the TV wasn't any use to her that night because Wrassling isn't on until tomorrow." Grandpa wasn't permitted to touch the existing TV which held a place of honor on the breakfront separating the dining room and living room. He was thrilled that Nana had a new TV, he took the old one into the basement to watch what he wanted to watch - he hated Wrassling! How strange!

Grandpa was a timer at the local Sulky track - and on occasion, he would take me with him to sit beside him while he clicked his stop watch to record the times of the winning horses. How I loved going to the track with him. And how he loved getting away from Nana! He was SOMEBODY at the track! At home, he might as well have been invisible. How curious!

Thankfully, I never had to spend much time in Nana's presence. To say I didn't like her very much would be a complete understatement of fact! She would pull my hair and box my ears just because! No talking allowed at Nana's - even if the TV was off! Had to sit in a straight-back kitchen chair with my back to her so she wouldn't have to look at my curiousity! Never did know why she disliked me so much, but I can guarantee you, I never was curious enough to ascertain why!