At 91, Maude Makes Trouble

Someone from my hometown wrote an article about my grandmother, which, after reading, I felt my black heart grow three sizes larger, so here you go:

For 24 years, Salty Miss Maude, 91, has called Friendship Towers home.

So when her high-rise apartment building near East 11th and French streets became less homey, she spoke out. 

First, she wrote to the Erie Housing Authority, which manages the 200-unit building for seniors and the disabled.

Then she talked to me.

She's upset that the south-facing foyer doesn't have enough chairs to sit and socialize. "Did you ever live in a house with a front porch where you could go out and sit and see what is going on or speak to your neighbors going by and just be friendly?" she wrote to the building manager in May, after some chairs were removed.
She's also irked that as of Nov. 1, the parking lot is restricted to tenants with cars.
She used to serve on the tenant council, but five years ago a stroke sent her to a nursing home for 15 months. As other tenants aged or got too busy, the council disbanded.
"I'm a troublemaker," she admits with a smile about her decision to air her complaints.

Maude has a wealth of wisdom, too. She was a teenager when she fell in love with her husband, John, at a roller-skating rink in Duluth. An Erie native, he worked in the engine rooms of ore carriers. After Pearl Harbor, they moved to Erie and raised their 11 children at 909 E. Ninth St.

"Dad never drove to work. Every day, he walked from Ninth and Perry to GAF," recalls Pat Twohig, 58, one of seven Twohig children still in Erie who take turns helping their mom.

At age 45, Maude had lived long enough without a car. Pat bought her a '55 Buick, and she learned to drive.
After her husband died, she moved to Friendship Towers. She had to adjust to the smaller space and make room for her books, movies and CDs. She's a guitar and ukulele player. Her musical tastes range from Scott Joplin to Freddy Fender. A wall of plaques honor her three-mile walks for the North Coast Striders; she joined at age 70.
She gets Meals on Wheels, but Pat helps her shop for her kitchen specialties, from chow mein to crab legs. When the snow flies, she frets she will have to trudge to his car on the street.
Maude, by the way, turned in her license five years ago. Age may be gaining speed, but she's not about to stop driving her viewpoint home. 

How cool is she, right? 

The article did not mention that she also has a younger manfriend (in his 80's!).  

I love my grandma!