I was in a bar recently and noticed a guy ordering a beer. It was not an ordinary beer. The beer he ordered triggered a powerful memory. It reminded me of my grandmother. When I was a kid my grandmother (my mother’s mother) lived with us. My mother was an only child and my grandfather passed away in his early fifties. She needed a place to stay and it made sense for her to move in.
My grandmother grew up in a small town in Mississippi. She lived through the world wars and the depression. She had many life experiences. I now know that what she really had was wisdom. She taught me a lot of things. Things like how to save and manage money, the value of hard work, the importance of religion and morality, and most importantly how to eat good southern food. She had a way of knowing when to scold you but also knowing when to allow you to “live a little”. She passed away at the age of 87 in 1998. I miss her and think about her influence in my life often.
One thing I remember about my grandmother was that she drank beer. It was the same kind of beer the guy ordered a few weeks ago. She did not always drink beer, but when she did she drank PBR. Pabst Blue Ribbon. She drank Pabst Blue Ribbon from a can. These cans were found in our refrigerator, hidden in the back, on one of the lower shelves. These were not just any cans, however. My grandmother drank “tall boys”, the 16 “ouncers”. These were the old style beer cans. They were made from tin and had the pop top throw away pull tabs. The opening on the can was not round but had kind of a tear drop shape. The logo below was proudly displayed on every one of them.
Pabst Blue Ribbon is actually a great beer. It 1893, it won the award for the best beer at the Chicago World’s Fair. It was a “blue ribbon. In 2006, at the Great American Beer Festival, it won the Gold Medal for American Style Lager Beers. When I was about 12 or so she gave me a sip of her Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. I have drank some beer since but I can’t recall ever actually drinking a PBR. That is about to change.
My grandmother was born on January 5th, 1911. In about 2 weeks, on January 5th, 2011, she would have been 100 years old. I will use the occasion to drink PBR from a tall boy can in her honor. If you think about it, do the same. Or better yet, take a moment to recall a memory about your grandmother. Like mine, I bet she was “pretty cool”.
My grandmother grew up in a small town in Mississippi. She lived through the world wars and the depression. She had many life experiences. I now know that what she really had was wisdom. She taught me a lot of things. Things like how to save and manage money, the value of hard work, the importance of religion and morality, and most importantly how to eat good southern food. She had a way of knowing when to scold you but also knowing when to allow you to “live a little”. She passed away at the age of 87 in 1998. I miss her and think about her influence in my life often.
One thing I remember about my grandmother was that she drank beer. It was the same kind of beer the guy ordered a few weeks ago. She did not always drink beer, but when she did she drank PBR. Pabst Blue Ribbon. She drank Pabst Blue Ribbon from a can. These cans were found in our refrigerator, hidden in the back, on one of the lower shelves. These were not just any cans, however. My grandmother drank “tall boys”, the 16 “ouncers”. These were the old style beer cans. They were made from tin and had the pop top throw away pull tabs. The opening on the can was not round but had kind of a tear drop shape. The logo below was proudly displayed on every one of them.
Pabst Blue Ribbon is actually a great beer. It 1893, it won the award for the best beer at the Chicago World’s Fair. It was a “blue ribbon. In 2006, at the Great American Beer Festival, it won the Gold Medal for American Style Lager Beers. When I was about 12 or so she gave me a sip of her Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. I have drank some beer since but I can’t recall ever actually drinking a PBR. That is about to change.
My grandmother was born on January 5th, 1911. In about 2 weeks, on January 5th, 2011, she would have been 100 years old. I will use the occasion to drink PBR from a tall boy can in her honor. If you think about it, do the same. Or better yet, take a moment to recall a memory about your grandmother. Like mine, I bet she was “pretty cool”.
