Elizabeth M. Harper

My paternal grandmother "Bessie" was a residence in my parent's home from about 1939 to when she died. She was quiet,but stubborn and opinionated. I think I was her closest friend during those years. I was in my early and mid teens and she was kind and understanding my interests. I smuggled her aspirin, which my mother thought she should not be taking. She was addicted to television when my brother made a home made TV set in the basement based on a small cathode ray tube. She sat on the cellar steps for hours fascinated by the the TV, which was small, poor picture and limited in programming in those days. When my father suffered a heart attack in 1957 (?) she was so upset she fell down those cellar steps and broke her hip. She never was able to walk again. She was renowned for her terrible cooking. My brother and I when left in her care would describe her cooking as putting leftovers in a pan and burning them. She lost her home at 925 Oley Street in Reading, PA when my grandfather died and she could not meet the mortgage payments. She then moved to their summer cottage on Maiden Creek north of Reading and lived there for a few years until she lost it to the bank for the same reason.