What Grandma Taught Me.

The prompt this week was: "What is something you taught yourself to do without much help from anyone else?"  However, the memory that came to me most strongly and most immediately was not of what I taught myself, but rather, something my Grandmother Audrey Nelson Cordon taught me. I have had so many wonderful teachers in my life.

My latest flower embroidery project, unfinished.

When I was around 9 years old Grandma Cordon came and stayed with us for a whole month to get acupuncture treatments from my father. I think it was March of 1976. It was a happy time for me. I was not blessed to be raised near grandparents. They lived  in Idaho and Utah and we usually only visited them once per year. Grandma's visit to our California home bolstered my self-esteem. I felt unconditional love from Grandma which was something I needed.  She was so patient and so fun. I always felt important and  confident around Grandma. I loved her very much.

Grandma was tiny, around 5 foot tall. She felt a little soft when you hugged her, but she was not really plump. A big nose held up glasses through which peered melancholy eyes. The sadness on her countenance was juxtaposed with her loud laugh and penchant for dressing in bright colors like hot pink and orange.  She had a wonderful sense of humor, like all of my father's family, but she cried easily. When I was older I learned that she suffered from
that tough depression that sometimes afflicts geriatric people. She never shared her sorrows with me however. I also remember she had a collection of zip-up robes or "house dresses" (fashionable in the 1970's) that she wore in the mornings and evenings. One was rose colored, another was aqua green.

One time I took Grandma shopping in downtown Petaluma. I felt so grown up taking her into different shops. As a pre-teen I knew my way around downtown and each of its stores, as I'd often walk the 2 miles there by myself or with friends, just to look around.

During that visit when I was 10 Grandma taught me embroidery. She sat down next to me on the couch and carefully, gently demonstrated how to make each type of stitch. When it was my turn to try, I got it! Grandma was never hurried. She watched and waited, and gave encouragement. I don't remember exactly how many lessons we had, but by the end of her visit I had mastered several stitches and was making flowers. The outline stitch was used for the stem, the chain stitch for the petals and leaves, and three French Knots filled in the flower's center. I  felt accomplished. I could create something that looked good with my own two busy hands!

I think of Grandma every time I embroider something. About 30 years later  I was attending an LDS Temple session in Portland, Oregon. Pondering how I could help my children be ready to attend the temple when they were grown, the impression came to me to embroider a temple clothing item for each of them. Maybe it was Grandma Cordon talking to me. Soon after, I ordered my first kit, and began a project for my oldest daughter who was then about 16 years old. I have now made items for five of my own children, three nieces, a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law. All of these form a tribute to Grandma Cordon's patience, kindness, and her ability to bring out confidence in me. She taught me much that visit.

Each flower bears the name of an influential woman in my life.

This one is dedicated to my Grandmother Audrey Nelson Cordon.

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Now I will answer the original question, "What is something you taught yourself without much help from anyone else?"

My answer is: Math shortcuts.

I was taught by schoolteachers how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, etc. Long division and fractions in 5th grade became algebra in 7th grade and quadratic equations in 10th. Senior physics class frequently used exponents. In  MBA school calculus was used to figure stock and options prices. Math instruction often included a lot of tedious steps and "showing your work."  I equated "show your work" with "complicate the assignment so that I won't be able to focus long enough to finish it" or "remove the mental challenge and torture me with boredom." Combining steps in my head led to finding the correct solution faster. If pressed to write everything out, my hand would start cramping and I was less likely to produce the correct answer because I was prone to transcription errors.  What was supposed to be six steps I taught myself to do in two or three. 


This post is week 2 of LDS Family Search's #52Stories project.