We never went to church....

Matriarchal Influences on the creative side of a madman.

There are a few folks I knew personally from previous generations that had a profound impact on my current states of mind. Mr Griffin taught me my strong sense of civics. Freeman was the most honest person I have ever met. My old neighbor, Beau had great stories of being a prizefighter back in the day.

But my grandma Wunsch was a whole other story altogether....

Woah...that was like....80 years ago....Man, I'm old....

Born in Oak Park, Il, in 1924 (Yes, X....it was a real year), she married a significantly taller farm-boy from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. She had 4 children, 10 grandchildren, and 4 or 5 (with more coming) great-grandchildren (of which I am proud to count X). All that time, she was able to guide the future through various organizations. I am sorry I never went to church with her but it was never my thing. She told me she had understood and was ok with that, but that she prayed for me anyway. I told her I was glad she thought about me and wanted the best for me.

The Tanuki Suit

We all needed her to be something different. She was able to switch between what was needed from her for all her grandchildren without any discernable transition. Piano with Jessica, food with Geoff, who she was to my cousins (by then, I was a bit of an anarchist, doing my own thing, so I'm not sure). For me, there were many things I still utilize daily. Para exemplar: Chaos Theory....yep, every day I was with her, we attempted to predict the chaos. "What time will Grandpa (he deserves his own, as does my other grandpa, but we will just stick with Hazel for now)get home?" "what time will the rain start (lake-effect added whole new dimensions)?"....simple things. Mostly for single pennies, but years later, i realized....I'm fairly good at predicting the chaos. Casandra and X seem to enjoy the cooking techniques I learned from her. Learn the basics, then go jazz(reinforced by Aunt Donna). It is rare that I will make a dish the exact same way twice. Unless the recipe calls for a specific amount of something for chemistry's sake (a roux is fairly straightforward and universal), It's game-on....whatever I'm feeling at the time. And always (never).... accurate measurements.....so very important. Even simple macaroni-and-cheese and hot dog lunches were an adventure. I'm not big on presentation, as I feel the food speaks for itself. There are times, when the looks were a bit off-putting, but the flavor was a singular event....un-replaceable. For as long as I can remember, I have had a love of history...social, geological, personal....somehow, I just felt like "how you got here" was as important as "where you are". I am not certain she knew anything about chaos theory or statistics or any of the maths I low-key use all the time, but she sure as heck knew how to teach them. Basically, it boils down to "the more info you got, the more accurate of a prediction of the outcome". I am willing to bet she never saw that one coming, but would be pleased to know that her lessons led to some REALLY pretty stuff. Knowing what led to it leads to what it leads to...LOL.... We had a blast at Crater Lake, in Oregon. (its a volcanic crater....see what I did there?) For years, we had joked about me in a blue mohawk. Maybe green. We both thought it would look funny.

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The Holy Relics.

Once, when I was on the phone with her, I mentioned how X had bought some salt and pepper shakers from the farmer's market in Royal Oak...and X was willed Grandma's collection of salt-and pepper shakers.

For real....just....The kid gets the holy grail of grandma's stuff because he bought a tchotchke one day.... that's how she was, though. Oh, and I got the records (Vinyl records, LOL). All the big band stuff from back in the day....essentially, the soundtrack to Fallout. It is crazy to think that Todd Howard creates a connection to my own past, but I will gladly take it. It would have been great to listen to them with her.

Our last meeting

For 4th of July weekend, 2016, the entire family got together to visit her. It was fun seeing the cousins and everyone else and all, but walking into her apartment with the aforementioned blue mohawk, torn jeans, and Britney Spears shirt, and seeing her eyes light up....(remember she was like....94 years old.....) THAT was worth the journey from Detroit to Madison, Wisconsin.

The granddaughter of Swedish immigrants, she expressed no desire to ever leave her beloved United States and see any other parts of the world. Me: "Really? I figured you would be all about Paris, at least....".

From decorating Christmas cookies to what I do now

There were a couple times that I was lucky enough to help grandma decorate her Christmas cookies. when adding the food coloring to the frosting, I would often ask, "what happens when we mix these colors?" Her response of "Let's find out." has become my mantra while tie-dyeing. It also comes in handy when making jewelry and cosmetics. Unexpected results yield....unexpected results.....not necessarily bad, just not what i was going for....but it works. Wow, to be able to show her what I've made in the past few years....

On October 22, 2018, Hazel Wunsch left to become a guiding star in the night sky. A journey marked by depression and war and small dogs and family and love and all the benchmarks of humanity ended years ago, but celebrated and remembered every day through the work produced by its after-effects and the lessons learned from it. In this way, I will honor my grandmother's memory. Love Always, Aaron.