Punk Rock Grandma

harmonees
Originally uploaded by shamrox

The woman on the left is John's great grandma. To her face, we call her "Jin-jo Harmonee," meaning great grandma in Korean, as that is what she is to Baby Girl.

Behind her back, we refer to her as Punk Rock Grandma. She has purple hair. She rawks.

I've been afraid of PRG for a long time. She speaks in a sort of radio-show like squawk, very emphatic, very loud. She speaks to me in Korean as if by yelling 3 inches from my face, I might "get it." She told my husband, long long before we were married, to stay away from those crazy white girls. They'll drive you crazy.

Then I spent five days with her. And now I miss her. She came to America by way of Canada at the age of 57. Can you fathom it? Leaving everything you know to move to a country of crazy white girls at an age when most people are thinking about giving the old 401k piggy bank a good shake and calling it a day?

***

Punk Rock Grandma was complaining the other night how the Thai food take-out was too hot, how could we have done that to her, ordering such flaming hot food for an old woman like she?

I told my mother-in-law to tell PRG that we were trying to kill her but it didn't work.

Moments later I had never seen a purple-haired woman laugh so hard.