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My grandmother was never the helpless woman in distress, nor would you hear her have to ask her husband if she could
buy something. She is and always was a strong independent woman who considered her husband a partner, not her boss. She taught
me so much in life. I love her with all my heart.
When a child grows up, there is always one person that remains a part of their
life that meant so much to them with memories of happiness, a safe haven, peace, love and admiration. That person for me was
my maternal Grandmother.
My Grandmother is a woman who never let the tuff times get her down. She was ahead
of her time in many ways and stood strong on her beliefs in many aspects of life.
She would always lead us in the right direction. She called it preaching (hence
the photo at the top of the Angel waving her finger) LOL!
She has such pride and motivation. If she could tackle the project on her own,
you better believe there would be dirt under her finger nails from a hard days work.
Her parents came from Poland and she is the first born here in the United
States.
Recently, my 88 year old Grandmother shuffled her way down to Florida
to visit me. She brought with her the very first Infant of Prague dress my mother made long ago.
(It is in dire need of a freshening up and as soon as I get it to a fiber
refurbisher I will post a photo of it.)
That dress was one of my mother's first sewing projects for the statue.
Grandma, not a creative sewer by any means, and more of a sewing "mender", put
her "best foot" forward and ventured with me at her request to create a new dress for her Infant Of Prague statue she has
back home.
"Heirloom" is about loving treasures passed down from one generation to another.
Here I am making my grandmother an heirloom she can pass down to one of the members of the family to keep the tradtion ongoing.
 
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Some of my friends and family stopped in to spend time with Grandma and enjoy
the day with her. She loves people and always loved to socialize. She is adored by many and the list of friendships she has
made in life is a mile long.
She is quite the independent woman. Ahead of her time, she was one of the few
women in her generation to drive a car. My Grandmother was a woman's lib before that era in the 60's and she never had to
burn part of her clothing. She worked in a foundry, dressed in an A line dress, and her hair done every week and her lace
collar and her little hanky on her belt, you'd think she was an executive secretary instead of a worker in a foundry. Self
pride in all you do is what she always taught. An honest hard days work. Then off home to work on the farm. Non stop, 7 days
a week with an occasional Saturday night with my grandfather out with friends to relax.
Grandma would always say you have to get on your hands and knees with a rag to
clean the corner of the kitchen floor. If you use a mop you will push the dirt into the corners and that is how you will live
your life.
Believe me, with a bad hip and a bad knee and needing a walker to get around at
88 years old, you have to watch grandma like a security guard because she will still try to clean the floor on her hands and
knees!!!
Enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed the time with the love of my life; my Grandmother.
She was always there for me, and I was so Blessed to have her then growing up, and to have her now as an adult.
Thank you to my little cousin Mary and her family who brought her down to
stay with me.
Christopher Nejman
June 2005
Click here to read the history of the Infant Of Prague.
Grandma's statue and completed dress
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