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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2014 14:07:12 GMT -5
^^^^^ I am not saying that there are not people who are crotchety, but rather that at a certain age, people magically turn into a crotchety person. Understood. My dad (and god-mother) have always been like that, ever since I can remember (late 1960s onwards). I think it's either part of your personality, or things/events happen in life...that you gradually become that way. I don't want to be a grumpy old man (or grumpy middle aged man) like my father was. So far, so good. |
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Post by eclectic on Apr 5, 2014 14:17:08 GMT -5
I think a lot of crochety-ness in old folks is because of living with chronic pain, illness, etc. As I grow older, I understand this better.
So far as 60s being like 90s then, no, not really. Lots of people lived to be older then -- remember that life expectancy is just an average, not the expected age for most people. Because infant mortality was higher then, this brought down the average.
From hints given in the episodes, I think Martha Corinne was born around 1847, so she'd have been in her 90s when she died. I'm guessing Maude Gormley was of similar vintage. I marvel when I think of Beulah Bondi and Merie Earle being born in the 1880s and still acting in the 1970s!
From hints, I think Grandpa was born in 1862, with Grandma also born some time in that decade.
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Post by married2oldfool on Apr 5, 2014 16:42:50 GMT -5
My husband's a crotchety old man LOL! I've been telling him that on a daily basis for the past 2 yrs. He laughs, denies it and then chills out. All I have to say now is, "Oh, here we go..." and he starts laughing and I don't have to say anything else. He knows.
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Post by ForeverWaltons on Apr 5, 2014 17:23:01 GMT -5
I think a lot of crochety-ness in old folks is because of living with chronic pain, illness, etc. As I grow older, I understand this better. So far as 60s being like 90s then, no, not really. Lots of people lived to be older then -- remember that life expectancy is just an average, not the expected age for most people. Because infant mortality was higher then, this brought down the average. From hints given in the episodes, I think Martha Corinne was born around 1847, so she'd have been in her 90s when she died. I'm guessing Maude Gormley was of similar vintage. I marvel when I think of Beulah Bondi and Merie Earle being born in the 1880s and still acting in the 1970s! From hints, I think Grandpa was born in 1862, with Grandma also born some time in that decade.
The rock at Grandpa's grave had a plaque on it with his name and dates. The dates were 1865 - 1941.
Henry's (Martha Corrine's husband), grave had 1845 - 1921. In the double length episode "The Conflict", from Season 3 Ep.1, Martha Corrine says that Henry was sixteen and she was 15 when they married. So her birth year should be 1846. Also in this episode Wade Walton asks John Boy if he is married. John Boy laughs and says, "No, I'm only eighteen." Wade tells him that he's nineteen (Wade was married and his wife pregnant in this episode). So the year should be 1934 which means that Martha Corrine was 88 years old (1846 - 1934) at this time.
So both brothers - Zeb and Henry died at 76 years of age.
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Post by awesomemixtape10 on Apr 5, 2014 17:24:32 GMT -5
^^^^^ I am not saying that there are not people who are crotchety, but rather that at a certain age, people magically turn into a crotchety person. Simply put,She enjoyed being grumpy. I didn't read all of the posts, so it might have been said, but she HAD to be the "BAD COP" to Grandpa's "Good cop". Grandpa was out there... |
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Post by married2oldfool on Apr 5, 2014 18:11:33 GMT -5
In my opinion, I think Grandma enjoyed life. I think she had more aches and pains than she let on. Of course her comments on a couple of episodes about "people spending hard earned money on going to the doctor" or in referring to arthritis as a "new ailment they're coming up with these days" made it harder on herself to swallow her pride and admit when she was feeling poorly. She was definitely a sharp tongued woman but Zeb was good at diffusing situations before things got out of hand (most of the time). My husband and I are the same. When I get angry, he calms me down. When he gets angry, I get angry and he calms me down LOL!
Just kidding, but you know what I mean. A good marriage is when you balance each other out and I think they had a good marriage. Like someone else mentioned, how difficult would it be to live with your son, his wife and their 7 kids? I'd be nuts. Oh, and those shoes she wore! Not very comfy looking. Hooray for Crocs!
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Post by ForeverWaltons on Apr 5, 2014 18:19:14 GMT -5
Up until I was 23 years old, all the much "older" people I had ever been around were very nice and I enjoyed being around them. At that time, I got a job working with two older women. One was born in 1919 (Tracey) and the other one in 1924 (Stacey), making them 69 and 64 at the time. I could not believe what hateful, grouchy, negative, back stabbing, gossip mongers they were.  During this time I got to know their husbands well. Tracey's husband was just like her, one of the unhappiest people you would ever be around. But Stacey's husband was as sweet as he could be each and every time I was around him (he was 10 years older than Stacey too).
Part of my job was typing the invoices and shipping labels for items we were shipping out each day. One day as I was doing this, I could tell something was wrong with Stacey. I finally asked her what was wrong. She blew a gasket at me! In a hateful voice she said, "You think you're something always doing the typing." I immediately got up out of the chair and extended my hand to the chair. I told her, "Here please sit down, I have no problem sharing this part of the job, I never knew that you wanted to do any of the typing." She screams back at me, "I don't know how to type!" I told her that I would be happy to teach her how to type. Her response, "I don't want to know how to type."
Now I had taken typing in school so I could type with both hands and fast, so I wasn't pecking with just my index fingers. We had a deadline to meet each day on the shipping. By this time Tracey had retired so it just left Stacey and I. Okay, I could type, she couldn't, she didn't want to learn how to...but she's upset that I'm doing the typing. What does she want me to do? Quit typing and just hope that someone else comes along so we can ask them if they will do the typing for us? >:DAfter eight years I turned in my two week notice because I could not take her hostility and hatefulness anymore. Guess what? At the end of my last day, she turned in her two week notice to retire from the company at the age of 72. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).  |
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Post by patriciaanne on Apr 5, 2014 18:32:49 GMT -5
I guess I'm in the minority here. I love Grandma Walton. And yes, I think she most certainly did enjoy life. She took great pride in clearing the land and building that house "right along with" her husband as she said. She enjoyed good, hard work and contributing to the family. She also took great pride in her son and daughter-in-law and her grandkids. She was proud of John Boy and a few people mentioned episodes that address that. She was proud of Jason for his music (although she would chide him for playing unholy music on Sundays). She was proud of Mary Ellen for working toward being a nurse. And when Mary Ellen misdiagnosed her appendicitis, she told her that it was all her own fault for asking Mary Ellen to take on such responsibility. It was more obvious that she loved the younger kids because they were younger and sweeter at that age (and not talking back yet), but she loved them all.
She also loved her husband and had a good, loving marriage. She had a strong, unwavering faith in God, which was evidenced in the episode when Livvy and the kids go missing in the woods. She lived with a sense of gratitude for having a good roof over her head, food on the table and a loving family around her because she knew many people didn't have those things.
She was a human being and had faults. Sometimes she was a little too prideful and she could lose her temper and she could be judgmental. And I love her all the more because she was not perfect. And for all of that, she was deeply loved and appreciated by her family. And by me. 
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Post by married2oldfool on Apr 5, 2014 18:39:54 GMT -5
I've noticed this same type of behavior from people who were older than me over the past few years and my son is now experiencing it. For me, it was a boss who just physically couldn't handle his responsibilities as a store manager and he took it out on everyone around him. He had one hip replaced and needed the other one done. He also had back and neck problems. This kept him from being able to walk around the store. He sat in his office on a computer and constantly yelled at employees over things that were out of their control. When he was the only manager available (asst manager out to lunch), and his approval was needed on transactions, he would shuffle out and belittle them in front of customers when they were just following store policy.
My son is dealing with coworkers who are burned out and resent him for being energetic and enthusiastic. They don't do their tasks and get upset when he's asked by the boss to complete them.
Some people have a hard time admitting that it's time for them to slow down or to accept a helping hand. I think Grandma was one of these people.
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Post by awesomemixtape10 on Apr 5, 2014 18:58:31 GMT -5
Here is something I just thought about:
It is heavily implied John Sr was a wild kid..Maybe dealing with John made her that way lol.
Like I said Grandpa was the "Good Cop". Maybe she was super sweet until John starting going wild?
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Post by eclectic on Apr 5, 2014 19:18:21 GMT -5
I think a lot of crochety-ness in old folks is because of living with chronic pain, illness, etc. As I grow older, I understand this better. So far as 60s being like 90s then, no, not really. Lots of people lived to be older then -- remember that life expectancy is just an average, not the expected age for most people. Because infant mortality was higher then, this brought down the average. From hints given in the episodes, I think Martha Corinne was born around 1847, so she'd have been in her 90s when she died. I'm guessing Maude Gormley was of similar vintage. I marvel when I think of Beulah Bondi and Merie Earle being born in the 1880s and still acting in the 1970s! From hints, I think Grandpa was born in 1862, with Grandma also born some time in that decade.
The rock at Grandpa's grave had a plaque on it with his name and dates. The dates were 1865 - 1941.
Henry's (Martha Corrine's husband), grave had 1845 - 1921, so her birth year sounds about right.
So both brothers - Zeb and Henry died at 76 years of age.
An earlier episode had Grandpa's 70th birthday or him mentioning that he was 70 and it was in 1934. I really hate how they never attempted any continuity with birthdates or wedding dates. They moved John Boy's birth year around, but I go with 1916, as that's when he graduated from high school. The first mention of Jim-Bob's age was 1924 in that Porthos incident, yet they had him graduate in 1944, which would mean 1926, and there's no mention of him staying back 2 years. They had Erin graduating in 1937, but I think she's more than 3 years younger than John-Boy and she's NOT seven years older than Jim-Bob! Indeed, Mary McDonough and David Harper are the same age! And what they did with John and Olivia's wedding date -- drives me batty. In one special taking place in 1969, they're having their 40th anniversary? Really? They didn't get married until all their kids had been born? And to have Grandma, born in the 1860s still alive in the 1960s, and no mention of her being over a hundred years old? Ugh! A bit of a digression, but I looked up Tom Bower and saw that he is 20 years older than Judy Norton. Was Curt supposed to be 20 years older than Mary Ellen? I never got that impression from the show -- I'd thought that Curt was supposed to be no more than 10 years her senior. But, then again, John and Olivia are supposed to have been high school sweethearts and Ralph was 11 years older than Michael. Same with Grandpa and Grandma, despite the 9 year gap there. |
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Post by married2oldfool on Apr 5, 2014 19:34:14 GMT -5
I love Grandma! She was a very important character on the show. I love it when Grandpa teases her and she gets that little sheepish grin on her face. Always makes me smile. She played that part perfectly.
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Post by Marilyn on Apr 5, 2014 19:37:58 GMT -5
I loved the character of Grandma, but I could not think of an episode where she actually enjoyed anything, joked, approved of the kids' behavior or had fun. Seems as though she was always scowling. Wasn't her character just a little too "crusty"?  |
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Post by Marilyn on Apr 5, 2014 19:43:24 GMT -5
Here is something I just thought about: It is heavily implied John Sr was a wild kid..Maybe dealing with John made her that way lol. Like I said Grandpa was the "Good Cop". Maybe she was super sweet until John starting going wild? |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2014 20:49:42 GMT -5
I don't think Grandma is any different from any other grandmother I've known. They all are the voice of traditions, no shenanigans, no tomfoolery, blah blah blah. Grandma is the keeper of rules and reason. I see generations after me the same way, for the most part. Less rules, less respect, less reason. I see myself becoming crotchety a little more everyday. |
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During this time I got to know their husbands well. Tracey's husband was just like her, one of the unhappiest people you would ever be around. But Stacey's husband was as sweet as he could be each and every time I was around him (he was 10 years older than Stacey too).
