MY GRANDMOTHER AT 100

I can not believe it but today would have been my Grandmother's 100th birthday. My grandmother was born Rose Cichoski on October 26, 1923 in the Polish Hill section of Pittsburgh. My grandmother was the oldest of five children. In addition to my grandmother there was: Louis (1926-1996), Florence (1928-2011), Josephine (1930-1985), and Maryann (1943-1946). My Grandmother had a hard upbringing, and she suffered from a few mental breakdowns and even went to live at a convent for awhile.

On May 3, 1944 she married Michael Hornack. The marriage was not successful, and was later anulled. The marriage did produce my mother Donna in 1950, but the couple divorced on March 30, 1955.

Luckily, my grandmother met the love of her life, my "grandfather" John Wachter Jr, and they were married on July 2, 1955. Together, Rose and John raised three children. John was a policeman during the race riots of the late 1960s, so Rose was always stressed not knowing if John would come home or not. 

The years flew by, and Rose would be a devoted grandmother of four grandchildren (I would be the oldest). I did not always have happy memories of my childhood, but I did of my grandmother. Together her and John were the highlight of my happy years. I would go with them to flea markets to try to find the latest bargains. In college, I went to school near where they lived, and I missed many classes because I would go there in between classes for lunch. My grandmother would feed me so much that I would fall asleep on their couch and miss my classes. My grandmother was never the same after John died in 2002, and my grandmother would pass away in 2007.

My grandmother was always nervous and unsure of herself. In reality, I think she had crippling anxiety. I never knew of my biological grandfather until long after she died. Even something like when my wife and I took her out to dinner would cause her to be nervous and not really enjoy herself. In her last few months of life I would call her once a week, and what many people did not know, and maybe she didn't know was that she was a smart, beautiful, and wonderful woman. I honestly do not know if she ever relaxed to enjoy life, but everyone she met enjoyed her. I really miss her...