Grandma and Grandpa’s relationship status, had they been on Facebook, could have been “it’s complicated.” My grandparents married in 1922, but two months later, Grandma left Grandpa. In 1925, when she became pregnant with Mom, they reunited.

My grandparents had a stormy relationship.  She continually accused him of cheating on her, and sometimes their arguments came to blows.  In retrospect, her suspicions were probably symptoms of her paranoid schizophrenia.  Grandpa suffered from PTSD and the effects of mustard gas from World War I.  He didn’t know how to handle Grandma’s rantings, which is why their marriage devolved into domestic violence. Continue reading Not Your Typical Grandparents →