Never A Dull Moment: A Tribute To My Grandmommie

Never A Dull Moment!


On February 16, 2013, my Grandmother Christine Gilrath received her heavenly award for a life that was full of joy, laughter, happiness, and service. As I am writing this, it is still very hard to comprehend that my grandmother has left us. But it is also comforting to know the memories and the legacy that she has left us with.
My first cousins and I did not call her grandma or grandmother but we called her “Grandmommie”. Growing up, I always wondered why we called her that. As a child, we just called her that and it just stuck. It was not until her interment when my aunt handed me the banner that had “Grandmommie” written in gold lettering that had been beautifully placed on her casket that I was the one that started calling her that name and that is how the name came to be. Because of that, I was given the banner that was quite an honor.

As I stated at her homegoing services, there were a lot of things that I learned from my Grandmommie.I learned that you did not have to be loud or overbearing to get your point across. Most of the time, all my grandmother had to do was point to know she meant business. If we caught her pointing at us, we knew that we were in trouble. If she began to point and move, then you had better get out of the way. Protecting your family was another valuable lesson that I got from my grandmother. I cannot tell you how many times my grandmother would go to bat for not only her children, but her grandchildren, siblings and countless other relatives. There were times I had to stop her from coming to my aide even as an adult, that was just who she was.

Because of grandmommie Christine, I learned about Victor Newman, Katherine Chancellor, Jill Abbott, Cricket, and Nikki from a little show called The Young & The Restless. My grandmother, her sisters, and her mother watched the show religiously. For a few years, during the summers, she would watch us and we dare not come into the house during 11am, because that was then Y&R was on and we better not disturb her viewing. The ultimate rule was that you could not call Bonner Springs in between the hours of 11am to 3pm (when The Guiding Light) would go off. You did have that reprieve from 12-12:30 when the news came on but that was only for thirty minutes until The Bold & The Beautiful came on. To this day, I still watch the show when I can and most of you reading this know you watch it as well.

You cannot say the name Christine without thinking of the following people Johnnie Taylor, B.B King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and of course Charles Brown. She was a HUGE fan. She loved the songs “The Ghetto”, “These Last Two Dollars”, and “The Blues is All right..” not to mention countless other songs. Her and her sister, my Aunt Alleyne would do the “Around The World” dance at every wedding reception, birthday party, picnic, and family reunion. Much like the Soul Train Line, Christine’s around the world was a given at any of those events.



My grandmommie also taught me that no matter what you went through in life, it was not worth being sad and blue about it. According to my cousin Bobby, when she received the news that she had cancer her response was, “Whatever”. That was her take on everything good or bad. That is how I am trying to carry on. I think we should all take a cue from her book and live life that way. Sure, life gets us down at times and that is okay, but do we have what it takes to get back up on that horse and ride again? My grandmother certainly did.
Age was never an excuse for her either. Nobody ever believed my grandmother was in her 80’s and that someone who loved to dance and party was that age at all. At a time when most people in their 80s were huddled in front of a television down and depressed or grouchy or reflecting on life, Christine Gilrath was living life to the fullest. That is a trend in our family, living life. All of my great-aunts and uncles defy age. They got it form their parents, my great-grandparents Arthur & Ruth Bolton who lived to be 101 and 96 respectively . I used to always tell myself that if this is what senior living looked like, I could not wait to get there.


So while I am sad and missing my grandmommie terribly I am thankful for all of the memories. I know there is a heavenly reunion going right now in heaven with all of the loved ones. I am sure her and my Uncle Wallace is cutting a rug with Johnnie Taylor singing “These Last Two Dollars” and KoKo Taylor singing “Wang Dang Doodle..” In honor of her memory, lets continue to do the “Around The World”, “Picking Up Greens”, and “The Mess Around” in her honor. Life goes on, and we honor her memory by living life to the fullest as that is what she would want.

Love you Grandmommie. Rest in Peace.

Your #1 First Born Grandson,

Chris II