Chapter 1: Comparing Grandparents

When I compare my grandparents, there couldn’t be a more striking contrast. First, they have totally different homes and occupations (at least before they retired). My dad’s parents live in a big traditional farmhouse an hour or so north of Pittsburgh. His dad is retired and now rents out the land to other farmers. On my mom’s side of the family, her mother lives alone in a small house in Illinois, south of Chicago about thirty miles. My grandfather died back in 1994, barely a memory to me. He was some sort of engineer; I never really understood what he did, while my grandmother has always been a stay-at- home housewife.

My dad’s parents are pretty much your stereotypical grandparents. They have always doted on me; some might say spoiled but I wouldn’t go that far. My cousin Kristen and I would often go together to visit them and we had all sorts of fun as young girls exploring the barn and other cool buildings and animals on the farm. In fact, the first time we ever masturbated together was in a hayloft. The farm has all sorts of room for larger groups to gather and being it’s only an hour or so away my dad’s side typical holds its get-togethers there.

One thing important to note about my dad’s parents, and most of his side of the family for that matter, is that they have no idea what the three brothers are involved in behind closed doors at home. In fact, most of the family is downright ultra-conservative. While she doesn’t make a big issue of it like my Aunt Sheri (my dad’s obnoxious and sanctimonious sister-in-law), I knew my Grandma Alice didn’t exactly approve of most of my outfits, especially the ones I liked to wear around the farm. Not being HER mother, my mom never seemed to worry much about what her mother-in-law had to say so I took it as a green light to dress however I wanted, not that Grandpa Gary seemed to mind! Of course, he was just looking out of typical male curiosity and I have NEVER sensed anything from him that he might be interested in me in any way other than as his granddaughter.

While my dad and his brothers grew up as typical teenage boys, always on the lookout for an opportunity to “score”, they weren’t any different from most boys their age. When they started dating two sisters (my mom and my Aunt Linda), it was often a battle over who dated who and when with the final results being my mom married my dad and my aunt married some other guy. Had not it been for my mom’s incestuous upbringing, no doubt my dad would have never done the things he did with me - or my cousins.

Over to my mom’s parents, the contrast couldn’t be any sharper. My Grandma Martha is an “interesting” person, by that I mean I have never quite figured her out completely. She raised two girls (no boys in the family) - namely my mom and Aunt Linda, and from what I gather, pretty much let them run amok. Of course, back when they were in school the dress codes were a lot more rigid than in today’s public schools so they couldn’t get away with the type of outfits me and my cousin Kristen wore. Yet in looking at the old family photos, they definitely pushed the boundaries. Both girls started dating very young and from what I gather, without a whole lot of rules, not even a curfew. I guess today you would call it “don’t ask, don’t tell” in that so long as their mom didn’t know about it, she didn’t hassle them over it.