Old Dead People

Why is it that people have the vague notion that grandparents once deceased transcend from the slightly senile, child spanking and bitterly racist people that they are into benevolent spirits that watch over the house? My grandmother was possibly one of the most unashamed white supremacists this side of the planet, the fact that she herself was Chinese was a mere minor detail that never bothered her fascination with the superior Aryan race. Looking back, it was probably this fascination that led her to marry my grandfather, a really quite dashing Eurasian sailor who after several years and 4 children promptly divorced her (in true Eurasian, skirt chasing fashion) for someone presumably younger and better looking. I’ve met this other clan of the family only on two occasions, these being the funerals of my grandfather and grandmother.

Shortly after both these events, my family being the rumor mongering suspicion loving move that it is, began to attribute just about every thing in the house to “Nanny looking over us.” This is particularly chilling, since knowing Nanny she’d probably be gleefully tipping over glasses, spilling soup and banging pots rather than doing any actual “looking over.”