Of the two, Emma and Hazel, Hazel was my favorite. Emma was a straight-laced woman without much of a sense of humor and for various reasons I spent less time with her. Hazel, as my mother described her, was a free spirit, a woman who, despite the hardships she had endured, still had a puckish sense of humor and an enjoyment of life. She also liked my friends and when I was entrusted to her care, would welcome them into my home and often share in our games and amusements.
As with Emma, Hazel also spent time with me alone. One of our favorite excursions was to the Palace Theater in Cleveland to take in a matinee stage show and movie. She always let me pick out the treats that I would munch on during the performances, most often popcorn and Milk-Duds.
Milk-Duds were not my favorite but served as the basis for an ongoing practical joke. Grandma would share my popcorn but avoided my Milk-Duds because they would get stuck to her partials and pull them loose. It would take her several moments and much tongue action to remove the offending candy and therefore delay the quiet scolding which followed her mouth's escape from bondage.
Yet time and again she would fall victim to this evil ploy. When fully engrossed in the performance she would reach out with her open hand expecting popcorn but getting instead a sticky sweet that she popped into her mouth and began to chew before she realized the substitution. I would do my best to stifle my giggles but sometimes laughed out loud, which prompted an even shaper reprimand. Since she was an intelligent woman, I cannot believe she didn't know what was coming, but went along with the gag because of the enjoyment if provided me.
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