Thankful Tuesday~ My Grandma was The Little Old Lady from Pasadena

The Little Old Lady from Pasadena

“It’s the little old lady from Pasadena
Go granny, go granny, go granny go
Got a pretty little flower bed of white gardenias
Go granny, go granny, go granny go
But parked in her rickety old garage
Is a brand new shiny red super-stock dodge

And everybody’s saying there’s nobody meaner
Than the little old lady from Pasadena
She drives real fast and she drives real hard
She’s a terror out on Colorado boulevard

Its the little old lady from Pasadena”

First recorded by Jan and Dean in 1960, Then the Beach Boys 1964

Grandma “Susie” about 1930, Kansas

My grandmother affectionately known to us grand kids as Grandma “Susie” moved to Pasadena, California back in 1942. She had driven tractors and such on the farm in Kansas but when they moved here she did not get her drivers license. Grandpop drove her everywhere.

My grandpop passed away in 1972. Grandma “Susie” lived about an hour away from us or at least it seemed that long when we were kids. She was an independent lady and decided it was time to buck up and get her license. At this point she was 69 years old and she had not driven since leaving the farm in the 40’s. That is 30 years! I cannot imagine what it was like for her to learn to drive on the streets of Pasadena. The traffic in Pasadena was already busy back in the 1970’s. But that did not stop her, she was far from a good driver though. She downright scared me, and never drove with my father around.

Grandma’s car looked like this

She drove a Dodge Valiant. It was not red, and it did not go fast, but she did become “The Terror out on Colorado Blvd.” She must have been her mid eighty’s when she took a wrong turn off of Colorado Blvd on to a one way street. All fine and dandy until you know she was driving the wrong way. Yep, the cops called my mom personally as they felt she did not understand she was going the wrong way.

Then there was the time that Grandma’s neighbor called my mom because “Susie” was stuck on the grass in front of the house. For anyone who had been to her house there in Pasadena you know that the hedges surrounding her yard made it near impossible to make the turn to get onto the grass. Mom was baffled. I was scared to be on the streets while she was driving. It was not soon after these two incidents that mom and dad took the keys away from her. But for about 12 years my grandma was “The little old lady from Pasadena.”

The Little Old Lady from Pasadena, no really!

When I think of the Beach Boys song I will always think of my Grandma “Susie” “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” who was the “Terror out on Colorado Boulevard.” It makes me laugh even now.

Yes today I am thankful my grandmother was “The little old Lady from Pasadena.”

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