My grandmother was a remarkable girl. One of my favorite pictures shows her as a cute, coy teenager standing in her gymnasium outfit, hair bobbed, holding on to a basketball, with the date 1908 and the letters EHS (Ely High School). She would have been in her early- to mid-teens, about four years younger than Jack, her future husband. The photo says a lot. She was a tomboy, active, and not afraid to run ahead of the pack. Popular fashion didn’t fully embrace bobs until the 1920s (yes, the roaring 20s). With her hair cut to jaw-length, she stood out. The photo shows her with gym pants and long sleeves, hips to one side, ball held with both hands, head slightly shifted to the other side, and what looks like a mischievous smile. The black-and-white image is relatively clear, with little graininess often associated with old-time photographs. As I said, cute and coy.

How she and Jack met has been lost. Another photo shows him, a dashing young man, apparently on a hayride (in the days pre-dating tractors when the primary means of pulling wagons was genuine horse-power). Word passed along with the photo (what historians would call “oral tradition”) has it that the photo was taken at the Pruki farm and the wagon was owned by the same. Oh, I forgot to mention, my grandmother’s name was Gustava Pruki, and that was her family’s farm. That farm eventually became “The Farm” of Gianotti lore, but that came much later.

Their marriage must have started off with a bang, Jack being known for his rowdiness and Gustava for her unconventional style of femininity. She must have seen in him the swashbuckling adventurer, the kind who was capable of being a bad-boy but who could be tamed by the touch of a woman’s hand on his chest. If their interaction when I knew them as older adults is any indication, she was somewhat successful in subduing his irascible behavior (he was half Italian and half Irish). Yet, she didn’t stifle his zest for life and adventure. They became hunting, fishing, and canoeing partners, even into their elderly years.

As a matter of fact, during one period of their married life, Jack owned a Harley-Davidson motorcycle store; he was on the early edge of the motorbike revolution. The H-D brand (also affectionately called “Harley” or sometimes “Hog” or “Chopper”) was founded in 1902. With the 1917 entry of America into World War I, the army ordered twenty thousand Harleys for military purposes. By 1920, H-D became the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. In 1921, Otto Walker set a record on a Harley-Davidson as the first motorcycle to win a race at an average speed greater than 100 mph (160 km/h). Having ventured into the skies as a World War I bi-plane navigator in the infancy years of air flight, Jack was eager to direct his adventuresome spirit to a more affordable means of testing his limits—the motorbike industry.

What’s this got to do with Gustava? She rode a Harley! I can still remember her telling me about it. Or was it Gramps who told me the story? She was the subject of much gossip and criticism for doing what females were not supposed to do in those days. It wasn’t ladylike! Jack must have loved it! They were a wild couple, and no one was going to tell them how to live their lives!

As I record this story, you have to understand that my personal, firsthand memories of Gustava, I mean Grandma, have her in her “retirement years.” She loved learning, constantly carrying a notebook along wherever she went, jotting down her observations for some later reference. Her career was as a school teacher. So that cute, coy, basketball-playing, chopper-riding gal was one and the same with the “schoolmarm” outward appearance I knew in her elderly years. I put those two images together and conclude she must have been a wonderful teacher. The coy look was still there in her clear eyes.

I still remember a visit she and Gramps made to Hawaii when my father moved us for a job placement he had received as a civilian in the army. At Makapuu beach, she excused herself to use the restroom, and she came back a bit chagrined. Turns out that she misread the signs on the grey block building. The wording of “Men” and “Women,” which directs people to the appropriate entry to the restroom, was replaced by “Kane” and “Wahini,” typical of most public facilities in Hawaii. However, Grandma realized her mistake as she exited, having finished what she went there for. It was the “troughs on the wall” (as she put it) that were the dead giveaway! She told the story with slightly upturned corners of a smile; Gramps tried to hold back the glimmer of a wink in his eye. They both took it in their stride.

Gustava has one last story from back in her motorcycle days, which we will now enter into the written historical record. This anecdote is nowhere in any written correspondence, files, or notes left behind from Jack and Gustava’s life. While riding her hog on a somewhat wintry day (why anyone would ride a motorcycle on a winter day is beyond me, but we are talking about an unusual woman), Grandma approached a bridge spanning a creek, hit a patch of ice, and spun out of control. She ended up soaking wet in the watery ditch, with a battered-up bike and a few scratches, but no serious bodily injuries. I can only imagine the conversation back at the Harley shop as Jack fixed up the bike to ready it for the next ride. Gossip must have picked up after that incident, with not a little encouragement from Jack’s retellings of the story with his guttural laugh. As for Gustava’s response, it probably was something like “Oh, Jack …” accompanied by her still-cute, mischievous smile.

I wonder if the Lord Jesus ever had a good laugh with His disciples. Imagine John sneaking up behind his cousin Peter, getting down on all fours, as Peter’s brother, Andrew, casually bumped “the rock” backward, causing him to fall over John. No one can convince me that Jesus wouldn’t have chuckled, with Peter’s knee-jerk reaction of anger turning to laughter upon seeing the smile on Jesus’ face. How much more will we enjoy fellowship with our Lord forever—and maybe lots of laughing!

“You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Ps 16:11)