So my grandmother died last week. 96, two months after my grandfather died at 97. My sister and I were reminiscing (commiserating, more like; they were both miserable people) and I remembered a time, I think it was late 70s, early 80s, when I saw my grandmother fall while walking. When her skirt flew up, I saw that she had this contraption strapped to her legs, such that a panel of smooth white fabric protected the inner surface of each thigh from rubbing against the other. These panels were held in place by your standard white elastic garter straps around the leg. (N.B.: it was only later after many sleepless nights that I deduced what the purpose of this device was; it was responsible for the whispered swish-swish-swish sound my grandmother produced when she walked.)
Anyway, now that I’ve introduced the image of the insides of my grandmother’s thighs to you all, I have a question. Is this a standard thing? or did she invent it? She was extremely inventive, and was always rubber band this gadget to that piece of something to come up with an ingenious solution to some everyday problem. She had an amazing drawer of the oddest things. I remember as a kid, I’d be struggling to make something do something it wasn’t intended for, and she’d watch me for a moment, then without saying anything go to this drawer and retrieve some odd little gadget that was designed with exactly this task in mind. That, plus she sewed like 23 hours a day; made all her own clothes and most of my grandfathers. So she certainly could have invented this thing that has remained firmly embedded in my mind for so many years. I was just wondering if anyone else’s grandmother swished when she walked?
Well, possibly some people’s grandfathers swished when they walked.
I don’t know the answer to your question, but it sounds ingenious and is an answer to a problem I have heard often from women with bigger thighs here and in other places.
Also, just to share the pain, the last time I was in Pittsburgh a few months ago, my mom went to the drug store and I took my grandmother, age 93, up to the hotel room to sit a bit before dinner. So when she needed help in the non-handicap-equipped bathroom it was me who had to see her… well, see her. I feel bad about being ooged out about it, but I’ll be honest - I was ooged out about it.
Sounds like handmade pettipants (a useful word I learned here). Thick thighs run in both sides of my family; we joke that we’d still have thick legs after a famine and I sometimes think that my Phys Ed teacher had it all wrong: instead of gymnastics, she should have tried to train me for weight lifting. Mom buys me “summer pajamas” and then keeps the bottoms to use as pettipants, because all-cotton summer pajamas are cheaper than all-cotton pettipants.
(N.B.: it was only later after many sleepless nights that I deduced what the purpose of this device was; it was responsible for the whispered swish-swish-swish sound my grandmother produced when she walked.)
I know I’ll look like an idiot here, and it’s a hijack, as well; what does N.B. stand for?
