Saturday, February 15, 2014

Goodbye to my biggest fan





Normally I wouldn't trouble folks with my personal life but if there was anyone that is a foundation for this site, it was my grandmother who passed away this week at 91 years of age.  She (and of course, my parents) is largely responsible for why I look backward with fondness.

I was fortunate enough to read her eulogy and was glad to share with people how much she meant to me and my family but I had to leave a lot out.

Today would have been her 92nd birthday and I'm going to spend it celebrating many of the things she did that made me want to create this site in the first place:


  • My grandparents owned a store in a mall, almost every Saturday I was babysat there. I spent the majority of the day going from the Woolco, to the hobby shop and then to the drug store to ogle the rack toys. My grandmother was usually good for $2, which was completely pissed away on what she would call “Junk”.


  • She kept old catalogs in her house and if she traveled to another country, she would bring me back their toy catalogs. It was kind of a weird torture looking at Big Jims and GI Joes that I would never own. It did however spark my interest in foreign toys, is anyone seeing a connection here?


  • In college, when I was forced to sell my toy collection, she arranged the purchase of my two favourite MIB Mego figures (Spider-Man and Captain America) and gave them back to me years later. I still have them, I will never sell them.


  • On my sixth birthday, she left me in the Eaton’s toy department and told me to pick out one thing for my birthday. I spent what felt like an eternity pouring over the GI joe and Big Jim offerings. More than the toy itself (i forget what I chose), I appreciated just being given that luxury of time.


  • When I was 13 she knitted me a Tom Baker scarf, she also sewed me a Jon Pertwee cape that I wore to my first convention a year later. I still have both, I never wear them.


  • She bought me my first issue of Starlog and more comics than I care to calculate.

  • My first Ramones record? You guessed it, it was Road to Ruin.


  • Christmas was incredible event at her house, some of my fondest childhood memories stem from those evenings.


  • When I got the Brick Mantooth figures in from China, she was the first person I showed. She approved but thought it was bad investment and well, the lady wasn't dumb.






  • Rack Toys is still proudly on her coffee table.

  • She always told me the truth, even I wasn't going to like it and could present it in a manner that I couldn't get mad at her.


She was my enabler and I can’t look at the majority of the things I blog about and not think of her. That will always make me smile and one of the reasons I’ll keep going and will be just fine. I love what I do because she loved me.

Thank you for indulging me.

18 comments:

Armpit Studios said...

Sorry to hear that, but that was a great post.

The carpet and the ship on the cabinet/TV/whatever. Whoa.

Wings1295 said...

A great tribute to a great lady. Sorry for your loss.

Dummy said...

This blog has always had a tremendous amount of soul, and now I know were a lot of it came from. She bought your MIB figures and then gave them back to you year later? That's awesome.

Jason said...

What a lovely post. Thank-you for sharing this. Such terrific memories.

Anonymous said...

So sorry. Thank God for your wonderful grandmother. She sounds just amazing. And thank you for this consistently funny and interesting site!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing that with your readers. You were very blessed to have such a wonderful person in your life.

Shanon said...

So sorry for your loss- those were such beautiful memories! Rest in peace to your biggest fan!

Sabrina Steyling said...

I'm sorry for your loss; my grandmother passed two days before Christmas 2013 and I still can't believe she's gone. Your grandma sounds like a really wonderful lady and I believe she would be proud of you for continuing the blog! I love reading what you write about, so as long as you post, I will read! :)

Anonymous said...

Canuck Reader,

Sorry for your loss. Losing someone important is hard. Peace, look after yourself in the coming weeks.

Later.

said...

My condolences friend...

MaGnUs said...

Sorry for your loss, man.

Lisa said...

So sorry for your loss! She sounds like a wonderful person and helped you create such great memories!
{{HUGS}}

Desdinova said...

Sorry for your loss. In remember you had mentioned her in some of the podcast.

jb said...

Those who leave are never completely gone, of course, and it sounds as though you're fortunate to have so much left behind. Your work here is much appreciated and enjoyed, and it's good to know where your passion/obsession/disease came from. Condolences to you and your family.

Plaidstallions said...

Thank you everyone for being so kind, I am grateful.

@Armpit Studios, I was recently in the basement with my dad who when he saw that boat yelled "Mine" and immediately put it in his car, much to the chagrin of my mother....

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading your tribute. You made your grandmother proud, I'm sure.

Walking Horse said...

I really enjoyed that you could share your tribute and life with her. It made me think of so many things I thought of as a kid in the '70s which brought me back to such a good place inside. I appreciate that glimpse of each moment in time you expressed. Peace to all...

Anonymous said...

Condolences Brian. Thank you for sharing those memories.

P.S. Congrats and Lucky win yesterday for Canada. U.S. will win it tonight! I hope..... ;)

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