Timeless Beauty

My grandmother is gorgeous, if you tell her to her face she fluffs it off as though you just told her she looked like Jayne Russel. She rolls her eye and waves her hand in the air in a “shooing” motion, and laughs.

But she is, she is 80 something years old and healthier than most of us and has weathered the death of two husbands and two bouts of cancer. One day after she fell and broke her leg, I was helping my mother get grandma into her leg brace, and I noticed, at her age, she had really nice legs! Sure they had some of the blue rivers you get with age, but as far as overall tone, they were perfect! She stated that she was known for her legs when she was younger.

Grandma, circa lete 40's

My grandmother was also slightly brazen, she told me that when she was younger, her older sister Mary worked as a hostess and wore these white high waisted pants, sort of like sailor pants, one day she decided to put them on and go for a walk around the neighborhood, much to her mothers’ dismay. Nice young ladies didn’t wear pants back then, and my grandma was perfectly comfortable showing them off as a fashion statement.

She also taught me a lot about beauty, although she may not even know it, I always remember peeking in her make up bag and seeing lipstick, powder and concealer, (all of which were Covergirl), a company that she has been and still is truthful to today, she always curled her hair in the mornings and finished it off with aqua net, and has a variety of skin lotions and fragrances.

As a child I was completely enamored with her old photos, always trying to do my hair like she did when she was my age, but of course never quite got a handle on those victory rolls till quite sometime later :)

She always tells me stories about my grandfather, whom passed away before I was born, and how he was such and artist and photographer, (must be were I get it) and how she was working in a factory and he was a manager who saw her one day and told a friend, “I am going to marry that woman someday” before they even formally met! My grandfather looking rather like Walt Disney or Clark Gable

She recently had a video made of all the old videos she made when my mother was younger, and in that mix of videos was a silent shot of my grandmother posing for pictures all pin up style on what looked like a card table. I asked her where she got the cute two piece, and she says “it was the kitchen curtains” !! My grandfather took the video about 2 months after my mother was born and it was late at night and everyone was asleep!
Uncle Jim, My mother, grandma,Kathy and Grandpa holding uncle Mike

But she also mentioned my grandfathers dislike of red nail polish, I won’t mention what he said about what it looked like, but lets just say it reminded him of a woman who had a little self indulgent fun around her time of the month. “Sorry Ashley, hope that didn’t gross you out!”

To this day I model my look somewhat off of her younger self, recently when I showed her my pinup pictures from the Madison Show, she said “Marilyn has nothing on you kid” and that made me feel good, coming from an original pinup like her self. :)