Remembering Anita: From Mary Baldwin (cousin)

Elizabeth Anne Garrison

On July 9, 1929 the second child of Luis and Anne Granados was born in Riverdale, Maryland. They named her Elizabeth Anne after her aunt, but she was nicknamed "Anita" by her Spanish father.

Anita attended Holy Redeemer School in Berwyn Heights and St. Cecelia's High School in Washington, DC. In 1947 she married Preston Garrison, a Navy veteran and fire-fighter for the District of Columbia. They settled in Greenbelt and had three children - Richard Preston, Kathleen Marie and Michael Joseph. Sadly, in 1955 Preston was killed in the line of duty, leaving Anita a young widow. Shortly after his death, she moved her family back to Riverdale to a newly constructed home. It was in this home she spent most of her life, raised her children as a single parent, and remained for more than forty years.

Anita worked full time as a bookkeeper for Potomac Iron Works and Art Display Company in Washington, DC. She was a talented musician, active in the choir at St. Bernard's church in Riverdale, serving both as an organist and vocalist. Once she retired, she took great pleasure in traveling and spending time with her grandchildren.

She is remembered by her great sense of humor. She loved to laugh, sing, and tell stories, especially funny stories about people she knew. She was also a generous giver of gifts, never forgetting to mark each birthday or Christmas with something special she chose for her loved ones.

In 1998, after suffering injuries from a fall, Anita moved out of her split level home Riverdale to a one level condominium in Columbia, Maryland. By 2002 her health was deteriorating, and she relocated to Holy Cross Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Burtonsville, Maryland.

On Monday, April 14, 2008, after a long illness, Anita died at Holy Cross. She will be missed by many, especially her five children, John Kernan (Dianne) of San Diego, CA, Richard Garrison (Debra) of Phoenix, AZ, Kathleen Buckley (Mark) of Columbia, MD, Michael Garrison (Juanita) of Dagsboro, DE, and Mindie Burgoyne (Dan) of Marion Station, MD.

Additionally, Anita leaves behind fourteen grandchildren - Amy, Preston, Rachel, Sarah, Meghan, Tara, Kelly, Spencer, Bonnie, Ginger, Fletcher, Dominic, Daniel and Lara - and twelve great-grandchildren - Preston, Isabella, Richard, Alexander, Tate, Annabelle, Trent, Mia, Ava, Daniel, Grace, and Mia.

Anita was predeceased by her husband, Preston, her parents, Luis Granados and Anne Waters Granados, and most recently by her brother Robert "Bob" Granados, of Huntingtown, Maryland who passed away December 22, 2007.

Many lives have been touched and changed by Anita. She is part of a large family with over 500 living relatives, and has made many friends at her workplaces, at church, and in the communities where she lived. She is remembered as loving mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, who faced difficult obstacles in her life but managed to provide for her family, instill good values in her children, and still find time to laugh and have fun.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

From Mary Baldwin (cousin)

Memories of times with Anita

Anita and I were close as cousins and best friends could be during our childhood. Although Sonny was more my age, he was a boy and that made a difference.

Momma and Daddy went frequently to the Waters house, and to Abuelo’s house where they lived during those years. Visiting relatives did not cost anything during the depression so our parents went back and forth frequently for social relaxation.

We played games (do you remember Jacks?) and cards (Rummy and Fish.) Hide and seek, oh anything that we felt like, when we were told,“GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!!”

In the 1930’s, Outside was a safe place where you can have lots of good times, talk little girl talk, walk the neighborhood, and generally stay busy until the next meal or time to go home. When I visited her at Abuelo’s, Anita and I would do her chores which were to make the beds and dump Abuelo’s chamber pot! Our Grandfather would not use the inside bathroom during the night like the rest of the family.

On the other hand, Abuelo made us happy with his Calentito’s, fried dough laid out on brown paper to absorb the oil, which we ate dipped in powdered sugar. We went to the same school, had the same problems growing up as all the other girls in school. Anita had a more friends than I, because she was pretty, not as shy and withdrawn as I.

Always cheerful, always looking at the world with a sarcastic and humorous eye, she had different reactions than I to our world. Our family moved to the next town and we were sent to different high schools. Then we grew into our teens, friends changed and we didn’t see a lot of each other any more.

Anita was at one time in our teen years, afflicted with a mysterious sickness that Momma wouldn’t discuss, she was just Gone. and when she came back she wasn’t so easy to be open with. I guess I was just too timid.

Much, much later I found out that she had been sent away to have a baby, her first child. Decades later he found his biological mother and was reunited with his full siblings. At that time, it was simply not talked about because the family would be disgraced if it were known.

The world has so changed!! We grew apart, although she and I shared a bond of early friendship. Anita married Preston, had her children and they moved to Greenbelt. I lived in Riverdale with Tim and my children, each family struggling to make ends meet. Then the world caved in for Anita with the sudden accidental death of her husband in a fire. She was in shock for weeks and could not talk. It was horrible!!

Uncle Louie took a strong part in the lives of the Garrison children, Mindy came to her, and her life went on as a single mom until many years later she met another man whom she married. Our worlds did not interlock after that. I will always remember her as a happy child and teen.

Mary Baldwin
April 18, 2008