Grandma and Grandpa - My Grandmother :: Personal Narrative Profile

My Grandmother   Children  The sound of her strident voice reverberates down the constrict stairwell.  I remember that musty, dark, winding stairwell that led to her second floor flat in Glendale as vividly as I did the day I established a meaningful relationship with my grandmother. Through this relationship, I pull in come to know her as a friend, a confidante, and lastly, a womanhood I admire.   I was only seven at the time, and the only matter I cared about was the fact that my grandmother spoke in a very loud and grating voice, and that she kept on patting my hand (which nettle me to no end).  My grandparents are exposed- my grandfather lives with us, while she lives in a separate apartment by herself in Glendale.  My family and I used to eat dejeuner at her house every week.  I remember trudging up the dank, squeaking stairs with my siblings, yelling An-yang(grandmother) all the way.  She would yell in a similar fashion  Ah S hua- nging (ah, children)  Smells of old- fashioned Shanghainese cooking would assail my senses, as my mouth watered in anticipation of the savories to come.   One particular afternoon, after we had finished eating, we arrange ourselves around her living room.  I was sitting on a tatterdemalion couch, whose colors were made indiscernible by time, and was looking around her room.  My glance swept from the thin, worn carpet, bare in some places, to the scarred wooden dresser, to a dirty doll with an eye missing. (My grandmother could never behave to throw anything away).  She came and sat down next to me, taking my hand in hers.  The tight braid at the nape of her neck was coming undone.  Wisps of mystifying black hair framed her square face. I looked down at the contrast between our hands- my hand was unblemished, pale and smooth, while her hand was color with age spots, tanned, and leathery.  She started to pat my hand in the most anno ying fashion, while telling me how large my feet were.  I was somewhat surprised, because I had always been told that my feet were instead small for my size.   Then I saw her feet.   Her feet were deformed and incredibly stunted.  Her toes grew in a peculiar