ELIZABETH C. WADE

I diffidently think my grandma (her name is Elizabeth) is my biggest hero. She was born in 1924 in Oakland into an all-Irish family. She’s the only girl of 4 children. Her brothers were named Ed, Jack and Walter Brennan. Her parent’s names were John P. Brennan and Zita D. Brennan. The following is why she’s my hero.

As she got older she and her brothers went in different directions. Ed and Jack both inherited almond ranches, grandma got Brennan’s restaurant in Berkeley, and Walter chose to be a Jesuit priest in Japan. Since he took a vow of poverty he didn’t inherit anything. Since then both the ranches have been sold but the restaurant is still around

The main reason she's my hero is because she and my grandpa (Bill), being partly foster parents, raised dozens of babies. One was black and back then that was a big deal. For some reason she tried numerous times to have her own baby and failed. Finally she gave birth to my dad (Barney) in 1959. My aunt followed close behind.

It may seem like her parents paved the road for her but they grew up in Ireland and came here and that’s no easy task. Irish were always ridiculed for their red hair and such. She ran a business that hired all the people no one else wanted. She gave them fair salary and treated them like anyone else. The business was amazingly prosperous too because they worked their hearts out.

That’s why my grandma is my hero. She raised loads of kids, she is really kind, and she single handedly took hold of a business and made it really popular. She is my biggest hero. By the way, that’s her above.