Only when he was no longer able to edit did I begin to notice some grammar mistakes creeping into her letters.Īll of this is a long way of saying: Oma grew up in a different culture, somewhere far from the United States. I later found out this was thanks to my grandfather, a journalist and editor. But her letters to me – written in English – were always flawless. After all, this was just how my Oma spoke. I didn’t pay much attention to it when I was growing up. More than that, she actually knew something about the game. During my soccer games as a kid, she was usually the only grandma in attendance, cheering away on the sidelines. She was also an avid soccer (football) fan, seeking it out on television whenever she had the chance. This was mate: an Argentine beverage, an Argentine social institution. Whenever I tasted it, I’d wince, and she’d laugh, “ It’s just something you have to grow up with to like.” She really was a little different, in a good way.ĭuring my visits with her in the suburbs of Philadelphia, she would drink this bitter herbal tea out of a hollow gourd using a funny sieve-like metal straw. She wasn’t just the cutest grandma in the world, one that I called Oma. When I was growing up, there were a few things that made my grandma different from other grandmas. Isn't she cute (Oma, that is)?Īuthor’s note: Our visit to Argentina was months ago, so why am I writing about this now? With the holidays coming, I began to reflect on tradition, family and what it means to be “far away.” My Soccer-Loving, Mate-Drinking Grandma This may not sound noteworthy, but the fact that she wrote it in her mother tongue transformed it for me from a simple letter into a welcome to a part of my family I hadn’t known before: the Argentine side.Īudrey and Oma. I know of plenty of Mommom’s & Poppop’s but no other Mammam’s & Pappap’s.Q: What’s the proper way to greet family you’ve never met before?Ī: In Argentina: with kisses, warmth - and a heck of a lot of steak.Įarlier this year, with a visit to relatives in Argentina only days away, I received my first email in Spanish from my grandmother. As to Mammam & Pappap, my mom doesn’t know why they were called that, it was set long before she could remember, there being a 25 year age gap between her (the youngest) and her oldest brother. My one friend is a grandma at just 28 (stepdaughter) and has a baby herself, I can understand her finding “Grandma” a little odd. The young grandma’s don’t seem to like the title Grandma, prefer alternatives such as Nana or Oma and such. Everyone out here seems to be grammy or grandma & grandpa, unless they are very young grandma’s. Mommom & poppop does seem to be a regional thing, much more common back east. I’m from Jersey, husband’s from California. I tend to want to refer to her as Mommom but I try correct it to Grammy before I say it. Dad liked Poppop and Mom said she liked Mommom but when baby arrived she naturally referred to herself as Grammy which was what she called her very dear to her Grandmother. I wanted my parent’s to be Mommom & Poppop as that would be similar to Mammam & Pappap-actually using Mammam & Pappap just felt weird as they were Mammam & Pappap, the central unit of my mother’s family, quintessentially Mammam & Pappap. She would have preferred a different title though. Husband’s dad was very eager for them to be Grandma/Grandpa last name, like his father & mother before him, and husband’s mom didn’t have the heart to deny him that. Great-grandparent’s on my side were Mammam & Pappap, Grandmom & Granddad last name. Great-grandparent’s are Grandma/Grandpa first name on husband’s side (when husband was a child they were Grandma/Grandpa last name). Husband’s parent’s are just Grandma & Grandpa or Grandma/Grandpa last name.
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