Anna May Bernet Callaghan, my maternal grandmother, was a powerful influence on me as a child. She was strong-willed, highly educated, generous and loving (but not sentimental.) I remember her playing Chopin on the piano and discussing politics with a passion. She had a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a Master’s in history from Cleveland’s Western Reserve University. 

With my mother, Helen Callaghan Conway, and my Aunt Joan Callaghan Woodward, Grandma taught me to respect women and to recognize their distinctive gifts. If any one of them was present, there was never any doubt who was the smartest person in the room or who commanded the most attention or loyalty. 

Grandma took her Catholic faith seriously, and attended Mass regularly, but she was not intimidated by members of the clergy. Her Uncle Will Bernet was a priest, and she learned from him to think critically and to question things that she didn’t understand or agree with. 

Her hobby was buying and selling houses. (Today she would be a house flipper on HGTV.) She had different pieces of furniture in storage so that when she acquired a new house she had options. It was said that when Anna May moved, a small fleet of moving vans headed in different directions delivering furniture not just to her new house but to the homes of her children and other family members.  I remember returning home from elementary school one day and all our living room furniture had been removed and replaced by pieces from one of Grandma’s storehouses! I also remember my Great Aunt Helen (Grandma’s sister) standing at her front door barring two oversized movers from entering her home and absolutely refusing to exchange her dining room table for one that Grandma said was a “better fit.” 

During Grandma’s final years she suffered a series of m.inor strokes which left her physically weak and frail. Her mind was clear, however, and her will was strong as ever!

I was only 15 when Grandma died. I was devastated. I couldn’t imagine life without her. She had been such a “force of nature” and such a powerful presence. 

That was more than 50 years ago. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and miss her intensely. 

I remember Anna May Bernet Callaghan as a proud woman, gifted in so many ways.  I am proud—and very grateful—to be her grandson.