Jennie Wynne, My Grandmother

As we age, our bodies go through remarkable changes and adapt to the various stages of life we experience. As this happens, the once immaculate skin we possessed in our youth wrinkles with time just as our hair turns to silver. However, more notably, these biological processes serve as proof that we are fortunate enough to create everlasting memories. We could consider our future to be a blank canvas as it is our undertaking to paint a story that we embrace through the decisions we make. Through compassion and understanding, humans possess the potential to talk to others and uncover what their story holds. Guided by curiosity, I would delve into the remarkable story of Jennie Wynne, my Grandmother, a person who I owe great respect to, as herself

This vision, as she would tell, sprouted from her very own father, as he himself had immersed in the arts as well. Holding the title as a self-proclaimed artist, his works often detailed the countryside or portraits of people. Even more remarkable, however, his mother also had interests in painting, unfortunately, my grandmother never got the chance to meet her due to her passing. With this knowledge in mind, I was compelled to ask if she had ever desired to pursue a different career. When approached with this question she simply replied “No, it’s just something I have always wanted to do, I have been doing it my whole life.” Then proceeding to finish her reply with a smile, once more displaying personal gratitude toward the subject. I found myself in a quest to understand more about her childhood. Fascinated with our talk thus far, I took it upon myself to uncover her favorite childhood memory. Initially, she pondered for a second to gather her thoughts and then without delay she revealed that one particular Christmas was her favorite memory. With a glimmer in her eyes, along with a noticeable lift in facial expression she remarked “I received my first Easel that Christmas”, It was evident to me then that this simple device meant a lot to her. As we continued to talk, she went on to tell of how she took art classes at her local college in her

It was while attending a dance that a friend of hers would change the course of her future forever. That night, under the radiance of the stars she would meet man who would later become her life partner. Interestingly enough, he also had an interest in the arts, specifically in music. Although she never directly said, it is very probable that the sweet and tender words he was capable of producing was what ultimately made her fall for him. She did, however, state that “he was very stubborn” which most likely complements his strong mindset she adored. It was from this event that she and my grandfather would go on to get married and eventually find a place to raise their children together. When asked if there was anything she wished to change about her life, she remarked “I would get a nice house to raise my children in”. As one could envision, things weren’t ideal as living in a small house can’t provide but so much comfort. This problem would nevertheless be remedied as my grandfather took it upon himself to build a house rather than buy one. Over the course of twenty years this house would foster nine children of their own. I always found the fact that she could raise that many children bewildering. When asked if it was hard to raise that many children without hesitation she replied “Yeah, it was hard for me because Henry [my grandfather] was at work almost every day”.