The grandmother everyone wanted

Deepa Bharath

Claudine Geiser was a happy person.

She went about her life with a smile on her face and a song on her

lips.

Claudine’s family was originally from Texas. She was born in

Oklahoma and moved to California with her parents and her uncle, who

ran a circus at the time. They loaded up a Model T with their

possessions and a tent trailer, banding together in car trains to

fend off bandits and crossing the desert on boards.

The family began afresh in Long Beach, starting a welding

business, a movie theater and a bait boat. An earthquake in 1933

leveled Claudine’s high school. So, she completed school in tents.

During World War II, Claudine -- who was already married and had a

child -- worked at the Navy’s ferry command in Long Beach and at a

neighboring hospital. Her accurate typing skills were in great demand

during those days, when the manual typewriter and carbon paper

reigned supreme in offices.

But other than that, Claudine pretty much stayed at home. She was

the picture-perfect 1950s housewife. She kept a clean house. She

cooked delicious meals -- from German dinners to Texas chili to yummy

desserts. She was so conscientious that she even ironed the sheets

and underwear.

Claudine was the grandmother everyone wanted. Her husband died

when she was 58. She moved to Costa Mesa in 1991, where she enjoyed

time with her grandchildren.

She was a regular at all of their sporting events. She played

silly games with them, and they absolutely enjoyed those games.

Claudine was active in Paularino Elementary School where her

grandchildren went. She gained popularity with the kids when she

brought Twinkletoes, her pet tortoise, to the school’s reading

program. Claudine had a delightful collection of tortoise books and

even wore a tortoise hat as she read to the kids. Twinkletoes always

wore a cape with “Paularino” embroidered on it.

Claudine wasn’t eccentric. She just loved to have fun.

Her other passion was traveling. She went all around the world,

from the Far East to Down Under. She also traveled to Europe and

South America.

Claudine was more into people than places. She enjoyed interacting

with the locals. In China, she was up at 4 a.m. to do tai chi with

the natives. She collected recipes from every place she visited. When

she returned from the United Kingdom, her grandchildren got to have

high tea with her and sample scones. When she came back from

Australia, she made Pavlova, a dessert named after a ballet dancer.

Caludine was organized, but she said it was never an obsession for

her. But look into her closets, and you’ll still find boxes of gas

bills from the ‘60s, neatly organized.

She also enjoyed writing poems. Not a birthday passed in the

family without getting a poem from Claudine.

She never got upset about too many things. She always looked at

the brighter side of life.