Crap, I forgot to look at his license plate. Well I'm no good to the police when they start asking questions!
It dawns on me how UNnervous I am about strangers, open spaces and well anything. My mom is the same way too. But my grandmother sure isn't. She is the quintessential Nervous Nelly. She is always worried about strangers, locking down the house and keeping a death grip on her purse.
She suffers dementia so it would make sense she would be so nervous, but she has been this way for as long as my mother can remember. What on earth would happen to someone to be so scared of everything?
Like many people of her generation she doesn't trust banks and practically hoards every supply she can get her hands on. It was no surprise when she moved out of her condo that I came across a tin of paprika from the 1950's. I'm not sure how much of the contents were paprika and how much was rust. She reluctantly let go of her collection of washed out bread bags and twist ties. When she moved out of her house in Los Angeles my grandma left behind a secret built-in safe that I am quite sure the new occupants are totally unaware of. Isn't that awesome? A secret built-in safe? You would think of something like that for a house built before 1920 or some magnificent mansion, not a track home in San Fernando valley. The best I ever found when I moved a few years ago was a set of small antique dolls stashed away in the top of a closet.
But as far as my grandmother goes her generational distrust of "the man" isn't overwhelming, just amusing. Her mistrust of everyone else is what's so incredible. She is the type to not want a serviceman in her house and would follow one around relentlessly to ensure her collection of cheap earrings aren't plundered. Hiring a maid is beyond question. Grandma would never trust someone else to clean her house, not because they couldn't clean it to her high standards but because she is afraid of being robbed blind.
When I look through old pictures of my grandmother I see a confident young woman. She drove across the plains with her grandfather and best friend to join her parents in Los Angeles.
This is not something the nervous old woman I know and love today would ever do. It seems so incongruous to her overall make up. She was the bold strong one. Well she is still bold and strong, just scared to death of everyone around her. How on earth she tolerates the nursing staff is beyond me.
