Gram Powers

Tomorrow is Sept 3rd, our beloved "Gram's" birthday. Wendy also shares this birthday. Gram was born in 1896 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Here is a photo of her about 1 or 2 years old. The photo jacket has "Louisville, KY" printed on it.

Gram's parents left KY for LA about 1900. Gram always said she was 3 when they moved to Los Angeles. But she always talked of LA being "home" not Kentucky. One of her first LA memories she recalled was being up on her dad's shoulders during a parade in LA when the President of the USA went by. I think it was McKinley, but you can look it up if you need to know.
Gram was the first of 4 children. Here is a picture of Gram with her brother Eddie and her sister Elizabeth. Gram may have been 9 or 10 here, I am not sure. But I know Gram was 12 years older than her second sister Helen who is not in the photo.

Gram was about 16 or 17 in the next portrait and then you can see her wedding photo. She married J A Powers on May 6, 1914, in LA. She met him in or near MacArthur Park when groups of kids would hang out to meet each other. She told me that cops on horseback would come around at curfew at night and make them all leave the park. Gram lived with her folks apparently about that time in LA off Main street near where the San Antonio Winery is now. There is an old brewery too where her dad worked. The house still stands where she lived.


When Gram married JA, they lived with JA's mother in LA. One of JA's older brothers, of which he had 3, came to visit and put the make on Gram. It was brother George, a womanizing drunk. This, among other happenings, put Gram over the edge, and she packed her suitcase and went to her folks house. She knocked on the door and her mother answered but would not let her come inside! Her mother told her, "You married him; now go back and live with him!" So gram went back to grandpa but insisted they get a home of their own, so they did.

The above photo is Gram in 1932. She was very active in the Eastern Star ladies organization; Grandpa was a 32 degree Mason, and they led their lodge for a time.
Gram was fun loving and very smart and active in Republican politics, PTA when her kids were in school, and an active partner in grandpa's business.
It was always fun to be with her and she seemed to love spending time with us kids. The photo below was taken in LA's Chinatown sometime in the 1960's. The lady with us was Gram's friend Mae who we saw often. Mae's husband and grandpa both died about the same time in 1952 from mets from prostate cancer. Gram later told me that grandpa, Mae's husband and another friend all got treated by the same quack doctor for "prostate cancer" using some new experimental treatment, and they all died about the same time. All I know is he died too young at 59 or so.

Gram loved to tell me "Your children are not your Children..." which is taken from the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. She said God could take them home to Heaven any time. Gram had a baby daughter who died in the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1919. She and Grandpa and my dad who was 2 lived in San Pedro at the time. The baby died and no one could come get her body because the undertaker parlours were too busy to go out to get children. Gram told me of having to ride in their car holding the dead baby while Grandpa drove to the undertakers. Gram also knew "the state" could take away your children if you neglected them. She told me she'd seen this happen too as a PTA officer.
Gram lived to be 96, saw family born and buried, married and divorced, happy and unhappy. She survived earthquakes which she dreaded, and saw much "progress", but she always seemed to be glad to be alive and upbeat when we visited.
Some people just stay with you always, even after they've left this visible world; Gram is one of those people for me... with me always!!