I am a 92 year old woman, I retired just a couple of years ago, I’ve seen a lot, and I’m here with grandson, AMA.

Update: this is a bit much for gram all at once, she would prefer to take it lightly and maybe tell some stories as opposed to the heavy life lesson type of stuff.

Hi Helen and grandson! What was your first job? And did you go to college?

"First job was picking strawberries for the man down the road, for 4 cents a quart. I didn't go to college, I did graduate high school though with 15 others, and i'm the last one left!"

Did you know those 15 others for the rest of your life? Like did they stay in the area or if they moved did you stay pen pals?

If i remember correctly they mostly all did stay in the area, she remembers seeing one two years ago in the grocery store, but he passed last year -great grandson

What is your favorite technology that's been invented in your life? My grandmother loves her electric hand mixer.

"I loved my bread mixer, i sure loved that, I don't make as much bread as I did, we didn't update stuff like that too much, if it worked we used it, if it broke, we fixed it."

looked like this: http://www.mushycat.com/photos/dough_maker.jpg

Hey everyone, this hasn't gone exactly as i thought, so i apologize, i was hoping for more questions, but she gets derailed on other stories (partially due to my grandparents who are here with me) so sorry about that. the video is kindof different but if anyone has any interst maybe i can upload a video of my great grandmother story telling for an hour or so. sorry if it hasn't worked out as you expected. we are getting ready for thanksgiving now, so i will have to probably wish you farewell, i will try to post some updates but i'll probably be slowing down, Gram and i say thanks! sorry i didnt get to as many as i had hoped.

In your opinion, who was the best president you saw, and why?

"no particular favorites, not interested in politics, now i'm just interested in families, church, the people I associate with, and do what i can to help other people"

What is your favorite food that they don't make anymore?

didn't get a whole lot of choice growing up, one of the favorites was: "her mother bought cans of mackrel, 12 cents a can, take the skin and bones out of it, mix it with mashed potatoes, and toss it in the oven. she tried making it recently and made it into patties, she also used to like fresh fish from when she did fish. food was very expensive, bread was 15 cents, hamburg was 25 cents a pound, thats quite a bit when you made a dollar a day, i started drinking coffee at 11, "it was hotter than the hobbes of hell!" her dad used to say."

I figure that'd be the "Calvins of Hell".

hob or hobbe is also another term for burner, as in the thing on the stove.

i know you're just making a joke, but this actually an interesting language point to me, so i felt compelled to share.

Thank you! TIL

Is there anything you've done in your life that you feel that everyone should do at some point? Any experiences that you would consider a must?

"I really like helping people, I think everyone should try that out! Frank and I have helped a lot of people in our day, most evryone has appreciated it. Even where frank is gone, people might say, remember what you and Frank did for me? it feels good to hear, it's like an investment."

What's a story you wish someone would ask you about?

"none in particular but I hope theres some no one does ask me about"

What's the farthest you've been from home, and what were you doing there?

"when i graduated from highschool, we hadn't been very far, maybe bangor, or dover, our graduating class had a class trip, we went to Boston, which was the first time i left the state of Maine, since then probably California or Colorado, lived in calorado a bit when frank was in the service, when my folks died, i worked for 1 and a half years to pay for the funeral, but then i headed out to Colorado, I had to go down later than I expected, I worked for continental airlines in Colorado, where we made maps, where they came through on a belt, and you had to fold them in a certain way really quick, no one would go in the dark room because they would have to take their wedding ring off, so I was excited to do that for work because i would hve made 50 cents an hour, but then the war ended and i didn't get to."

When you talk with your grandson, what do you have in common aside from family? Do you share similar views on life? (politics, culture, technology etc?)

We mostly chat about everyday life. (gram doesn't follow politics much, and she doesn't keep up with technology as much as I do) however we share similar views on life. I guess, sorry this is tough to answer in grams word because of how much we just chat.

since you must have heard a lot of them in 92 years - would you be so kind and tell me your favourite joke?

not so much of a joke, but a story that got her laughing.

"My first impression as a mother in law couldn’t have been great, my daughter in law used to bring her fish with her in a coffee pot, and I tried to be helpful by cleaning up a fish tank I had in the basement, so I cleaned it but I guess I didn’t rinse it well enough, because there was still too much bleach in it and that gold fish was just white as can be."

to be honest, she just gave me a long story that i had a hard time following and she has sortof moved on, so I will give you another one, hopefully later as we go. -great grandson

makes great grandmother do an AMA

doesn't really listen to what she says

It's not really like that, she is unfamiliar with the concept of reddit, sorry man, doing my best.

Hi gram and happy thanksgiving! What is your favorite holiday dish and why? I ask because I had the honor of cooking in a pot last night that my great grandfather made in the 1940s.

"Minced meat turnovers are a favorite, I try to put some venison in whenever I can! I also make a good rum fruit cake. I used to make indian pudding, raisins, dates, corn meal, molasses, it had a good lemon sauce I'd have to look up the recipe. I used to make some good canned brown bread too, you have to steam it."

Hi from the UK.

People often say life was better before technology such as mobile phones and the internet. Would you agree with this? Do you use such technology yourself and how would life be different for you if they had the technology when you were younger?

She likes the phone, and tv, but doesn't really mess with cell phones, and internet, and she seems certainly happy, she thinks people would have likely used the same way, but she enjoyed the entertainment of her youth, fishing, croquet, swimming, basketball, etc.

My gram was a basketball player. Does she remember when the girls games were all half-court?

Also - she mentioned she graduated HS. Does she remember any of her graduation presents? My grandmother kept a list in the back of her yearbook and they were all home-making items and (of all things) panties. I'm wondering if that was a regional thing.

Yes! gram played basketball in high school 6vs 6, half court.

How did you meet your husband?

Also, a question for the grandson, do sometimes people mistake you for Seth Rogan?

She met frank at a toller rink called luckys landing. Frank fell on her, they met, and for the rest of his life he said it was a lucky landing.

That's freaking adorable! :)

Yeah my dad framed a cool old picture, with luckys landing in the background he bought on ebay, for like $100 and a paper clipping of something cool from that day they met and gave it to her for her 90th

You just know he fell on her on purpose.

Well he would never admit it ;)

Well my comment was deleted because I didn't ask a question. So, OP what's your favorite story about your great grandma?

And

I just want to say the ama may not have been what you expect but I loved it. It reminded me of both my great grandmothers who each died in their 90's. I think this was a great way for you to honor yours. Thanks for sharing with us.

Well, when i was 13 (i think i was 13), I got an xbox, it was my first gaming console, and she played Halo with me, I'm 20 now. anyways, it was a close match.

Wait, what?! You played Halo with your grandma? Does she know how to play? Explain yourself!

Yeah it was pretty much both our first times gaming, she was good!

Do you think it's possible to utilize every waking moment so that one doesn't find themselves at 92 wondering if they could have done things differently? Or is it inevitable to look back and regret something?

gram says "you're getting out of my line" she is focused on the now. she says "live day to day, live more of a relaxed a life than she used to live."

What are your thoughts on drugs? Any stories you can remember ?

I have asked this a while back, and she hasn't really done much, but she doesnt think anyone doing drugs is other peoples' business, she has a couple glasses of wine on the holidays and drinks a lot of black coffee, but otherwise, she seems pretty indifferent about it, she has mentioned before though, seeing peoples lives ruined due to alcoholism, so i think she is wary of drugs in general.

Is family everything ?

"family is very important to me"

That's a politician's answer right there.

Q: Mr Mayor, is infrastructure your #1 priority?

A: Infrastructure is very important to me.

yeah kinda, but gram is a sweetheart, and i know she means it, you would too if you met her.

Hey from Germany, it may be a bit rude to ask that, but what did you experienced while WWII? Do you have to left your home or was "everything ok" (ok as it can be in this time)?

Gram isn't here to answer this now, but from wat i've heard, both her and frank made a pretty significant effort towards the war, whether or not it was intentional, i believe they are both a bit patriotic, and would have probably done it again. Gram also lived so far from any big population in the US, probably 100 miles from boston, as the closest, that they never felt any real threat during the war.

Hi Gram, thanks for doing the AMA.

Are you still sexually active at 92? If not, when did you stop?

Thanks.

Sorry but I'm not asking my great grandmother that, but she has been unmarried since frank died and I think she is enjoying the single life.

You have no interests, no professional activity, no apparent higher education, and no views. Why are you doing this IAmA?

She has education, has worked until she was 90, and doesn't want to talk politics, she is 92 years old, if you dont like it, please move on.

Why did you just post the stupidest AMA ever?

(just because you have an internet connection doesn't automatically mean that you have something you have to share. Seriously, just let your granny chill, enjoy Thanksgiving, and maybe go spend time with your family. Don't host an AMA that has absolutely no value whatsoever.)

Happy thanksgiving to you too!