Grandma Ruby

Grandma Ruby passed away Saturday night. She was my father's mother and we will miss her so much. She was glamorous, passionate, and courageous.
She lived in the San Francisco area while I was growing up and visits to her and Grandpa were always a highlight--there were so many new sights and tastes. She loved to dress up; I can hardly remember a time when she didn't have lipstick on and she had an endless supply of accessories, bags, shoes. She loved to eat out and to shop and she spoiled us grandkids with trinkets and dolls and her great-grandkids with stuffed animals.
She worked often outside of the home and she enjoyed her jobs and the associations she had there. Before she was married she worked for an oil company as a secretary. One day they couldn't find anyone to drive the oil truck, and so Grandma Ruby became a driver. It must have been a sight to see this slender beauty behind an oil rig (with red lipstick on, I'm sure). She enjoyed challenges and liked being a little rebellious. She could be ornery and liked being the center of attention, but she loved her family and her husband deeply. She transferred from California where she was working to Oregon to help her sister when her sister's husband left for the war. There she met and married the love of her life--you should see their wedding pictures: she is wearing a smart suit with a quintessential '40s hairstyle and of course, red lipstick. She was beautiful. Grandpa Gene died 18 years ago and she has been terribly lonely ever since. I am glad they are together again, but I still regret not capturing all of her amazing stories on tape. She told them often, and I took them for granted--and now I have questions that probably will never be answered.
We love and miss you, Grandma.