My Tribute to My Grandma!

[BrandonDaCollector]

I cannot believe i am doing this, I never thought I "would" be doing something like this....ever So the graphics aren't fancy, I don't have tech to do so and besides, I wanted to do it like anything else I do...My way & old school. So the colors are green because that was her favorite color so I thought it would be quite apropos to design it that way. My Grandma was Gloria Audrey Strecker. She was half German, half Cherokee Indian and she had green eyes As you see in her vintage picture, she was quite lovely and beautiful. Every time I'd watch the Rocketeer and see Jennifer Connelly I always thought she looked My Grandma when she was young but others thought she looked like Elizabeth Taylor but I beg the differ (look'em up). I never actually called her Grandma though, When I was a very young, I called her MiMi and My Grandpa PoPo and I did until their last days I found out when I got older I wasn't alone, other children called their Grandparents the same as well, I'm not sure why but it was actually a common thing going on or at least back then. Mimi was actually a woman of many,many mens' interest back in her day, she basically could have had just about any man she wanted and was even presented to be a swimsuit model but accepted none of it as she was a family girl and was a great baker at Amighetti's here in St. Louis. She was her boss's most top employee for a long time. She was also a great banker and worked out math like you wouldn't believe. She bred all kinds of dog breeds and got top dollar for them which some of them were actually in dog contests that won and was even on dog food cans! In fact a 7+ basketball player (I do not recall his name but darn it I should have) called her house specifically for her because he knew she was THE BREEDER to go too! He paid her big bucks for them! My Grandma Mimi knew a lot of people too. Famous and local. She knew so many people in our old neighborhood. Unfortunately I was kinda young to appreciate it all. I remember Annie Burke at her little store and her daughter's great Movie Mogul that I loved to go to. She knew so many people at Tru-Buy, National, Schnucks and many others. She introduced Me to Verna at Mr. T's video and I loved that place. She always made deals with the people at Star Video an deven Blockbuster & Hollywood Video

NOTE: I have talked about some of this great stuff in My topics but it is so worth talking about again

There was so much more. I was very close with My Grandma Mimi on so many levels. I would love it when we'd go to the Cherokee Street, it was packed with so many great stores like 2 different Globes - 1 a department & 2 a drug, an awesome Woolworths, Walgreens, the Baazar and of course Judy's Superstore. Judy was My Grandma Mimi's best friend, she was Korean and her store was the greatest. These were the very best of times in the 80s and very early 90s, it was so fun. She'd take Me to Venture, K-Mart & Target and of course Ben Franklin's & GrandPa Pidgeons. I would love to go to the grocery store with her for many reasons. One huge reason in particular is we would get out tons of stuff out of the vending machines because she was that darn good at it. We would have over a course of 15 years of that of basically robbing the machines over many different locations because she would always get just about everything first shot! Unfortunately she got ill in 2014 and it was all over However, we still played games, watched movies & wrestling and all of that together

[BrandonDaCollector]

So now here is some of the absolute best things about My Grandma Mimi

Laura Branigan's Gloria: She loved this song, every time we were at Hayden's BBQ she'd give Me a quarter to play in their jukebox. I wanted too as well. Laura was truly the first female singer that I liked at such a young age and I thought she was gorgeous and My Grandma Mimi kinda resembled her in a way. In fact, she said at one time that song sounds like it is about Me. I didn't see it then in the late 80s & early 90s but now I do

[BrandonDaCollector]

Phil the Gorilla: NOTE - (I spoke of this in My recent St. Louis books posting in My Odds & Ends) When My Grandma Mimi was a teenager, she would go to the St. Louis Zoo to see Phil, he was one of the most famous and largest primates ever in the USA. They actually befriended each other, for years she would go to his Birthday parties, give him cake and she'd hold his huge hand and all of that. She loved it when the classic wrestlers (I do not recall their names) would visit for a special event and have a tug of war with him. He would always win He went on a huger strike and died in 1958, she was so sad that her great ape pal had passed



Buddy Rogers' Wife Debbie: Oh My Grandma knew "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers' wife, Ruth "Debbie" Nixon. She rode with her many times on the bus. They would talk about this and that. Debbie knew a very young Harley Race, she wanted to introduce him to her cause he was from Missouri too. My Grandma said no. Once in a while I would say to her about it. To think I could have had "The King" Harley Race as My Grandfather...what an alternate reality that would have been



But then...

Gloria met Ronnie: At a Halloween party in 1960, Ronald Leo Cassin actually knew My Grandma's older sister Florence which he called her Nips. Florence wanted to introduce her the other sister Toots. He wasn't crazy about her at all. Then at the party he saw Florence's other sister Gloria, they laid eye to eye on each other and that was that. They got married soon after and had My Mom



They had so much in common including they both liked wrestling...in the glory & classic days of the sport!

"The Hangman" Neil Guay aka Destroyer Mark III & Towering Inferno: They were at a wrestling match, My Grandma got his attention after his bout was over, he was very kind and walked out with My Grandparents and carried their little girl on his shoulders to the car. My Grandma knew who was under the mask as he was in a different gimmick. Because he used the "The Hangman's Knot" finisher, she told him she knew who he really was and that he was The Hangman. He stayed in character but kinda admitted to it too



Joe Tangaro: My Grandma MiMi also knew the legendary wrestler Joe Tangero. My Grandpa was amazed by this too. They ate at his restaurant many times on Broadway. She said he was such a nice man. Sadly he got sick and his business folded. One day in the 2000s we went down to Big Lots! (no longer there) and that's how I found out about Joe Tangaro as she showed Me his building as its right across the street

NOTE: This is how I am going to bring the old stores BACK in the future that I have been talking about for so long in My great topics

Here is a recent picture of it...pathetically nothing has ever took its place of Joe Tangaro's classic restaurant

[BrandonDaCollector]

Isao Tomita: So My Grandpa taught Me and introduced Me to movie music & composers. Well, My Grandma did the same thing. She introduced Me to Isao Tomita! She found him on the radio and fell in love with his sound and bought many of his albums on record. I was about 6 or so and she said to Me "Angel", she always called Me "Angel" even to her last moments She told Me about how great his sound was. I couldn't believe it, I just loved his music. He was a pioneer of electronic music and truly one of the forefathers of the genre. I have listened to his music so much over the years and I have bought most of his albums on CD and in fact I am listening to it now as I speak!

This was the FIRST EVER track I heard of his!

Daphnis & Chloe



This is My fave album ever of Tomita, I have always loved that artwork.

The Grand Canyon



I always told her that I loved this music but I never thanked her for bringing My attention of it's fun, wonder, magic, beauty and emotion

Now, even though I am big move score fan thanks to My Grandpa PoPo, MiMi was on par with him as they had yet another connection with each other as they would go all over town searching for movie soundtracks. She loved the movie The Bone Collector (1999)...she noticed how wonderful and moving the music was by Craig Armstrong. She loved this so much and had such good taste in things I bought the CD because she adored the music and plus I think its a superb score and it never get's the attention it should

Here is a few tracks of it that is so grand. I listen to it now without her

[BrandonDaCollector]

Some of My most memorable times & gifts from My Grandma Mimi: Some of these have been seen previously, others have been taken just for this unfortunate special

Spydor: You all know the story here and we're not going there. I'll never for the Christmas when she gave Me him



Sgt. Slaughter, "Fridge" Perry & Brandon the Brigadier: Oh I loved these, she would do the best she could to get Me Joes



Willow & Ghostbusters VHS: Since we saw Willow at the show she bought Me the VHS along with Ghostbusters because she rented it for Me tons of times over at Rainbow video



Lex Luger: He was My very first WCW figure by Galoob in 1990 I can remember like it was yesterday when we went to K-Mart and saw them WCW figures



Hulk Hogan & Scorpion Alien: Like Luger, My very first Hasbro WWF figure was from K-Mart at around the same time in 1990. Then in 1992 (30 years ago this year!) I was always an Alien fan thanks to My Grandpa many years prior, She took Me to Target and I got My first Xenomorph figure ever! In fact this is how I found about Kenner's awesome series that I would cherish ever since



WCW OSTM Figures: These figures has a real special place in My HART because I was in the hospital during the Summer in 1995 (long story, don't want to get into it) and I was talking on the phone with My Grandma and she surprised Me when she got there that she got Me Jimmy Hart along with The Nasty Boys & Harlem Heat She explained to Me that Jimmy was extremely hard to get. She had the guy working at Target get a case of the WCW figures out from the stock room and had him open up several boxes of them and there WAS ONLY 1 JIMMY HART! He is one of My prized & cherished figures that I have in any of My collections. His sculpting is superior and is really accurate in scale & appearance and is made very rubbery! The Nasty Boys & Harlem Heat were almost as rare as he was and they are great too



Star Wars VHS: We were at Walgreens in 1995 and she got Me this grand box set of the original trilogy



Street Sharks: I loved them, even more so than the TMNT. I loved their rubbery skins and big size. She got Me all of the first series at Target. In fact the cashier forgot to ring-out a couple of'em and we were thrilled My Grandparents together got Me the other 2 from the last series a couple years later at K-B Toys despite their unfortunate financial debacles

[BrandonDaCollector]

The Crypt Keeper: This was the first major item MiMi got Me out of the claw machine in 1996. I feel very bad because I never showed My appreciation about it because I always was like afraid of him for some silly reason and sometimes she'd ask Me about him and I never really gave a strait answer...he is made by ACE and NO I am not afraid of him, the whole thing of Mine was stupid Here he is



Scott Hall & Shane Douglas: She got Me them at K-Mart. I was so depressed that day in 2000, she made My day and got Me Douglas who I wanted so much along with many of the other ECW wrestlers. At a later date, l found Hall on the peg, only 1 of him and he was the variant/chase version and he was My first chase figure ever

NOTE: It was bad enough what happen to Hall then later My Grandma



Belt Buckles: This collection all came from the vending machine from Schnucks from a course of over a decade My collection nearly weighs 15 pounds I have posted this in My Odds & Ends topic, go there to read the whole wonderful story!



She painted My LJN Hulk Hogan: I got him in the mid 2000s from eBay and made up for the past. He was in great conditioned but needed to be repainted. I'm not good at the stuff so she painted everything on him even the world title and put Velcro on his shirt!



Captain America & Predator: For Christmas in 2011, she got Me the Marvel Select Movie Captain America and ALL of the AVP: 2 variants of The Wolf Predator (I already had the Xenomorphs), I was so amazed by this

NOTE: This is only a tiny sample of My Marvel showcase in the future



Cryptids: Holy cow I was so surprised when she got Me these guys, I love'em and she also got me many others in the Accoutrements series. These are extremely rare

[BrandonDaCollector]

AUTOGRAPHS

Oh man she did other great stuff for Me too

Arnold Schwarzenegger: He was My hero, even more so that Hulk Hogan. It was about 1987/88 when she went to the local library (and keep in mind this WAS WAY, WAY BEFORE THE WEB!) and long story short, had some help and found his address. She wrote to him and then this special picture came in the mail. I have always cherished this moment



Owen Hart & Yokozuna: This is one of My most special things I have ever gotten at anytime I was bad sick in 94 - 95 (don't want to talk about). I loved Owen, he was and has always been better that Bret. It was Wrestlemania 11, Owen was gonna have a surprise mystery tag partner and it turned out to be YOKOZUNA It was huge to Me, Yokozuna was My favorite of all I was always rooting for him in his matches all the time. So My Grandma knew how much I loved them so she wrote to the WWF. Yokozuna & "The King of Harts were together and they sent Me autographs of them each and even signed them TO BRANDON! Yokozuna was so nice, he even included his Hasbro action figure brand new sealed on the card and better yet it was the VARIANT!



Owen Hart: Poor Owen He did this for Me




Yokozuna: Ah Yokozuna, My favorite, he was so nice




Yokozuna Figure: I was so euphoric when I got the pictures but I was absolutely astounded about the figure The sculpting is tremendous and his size is awesome, he is one of My most prized of all My prized action figures of ever, of all-time



Sting: Yes, I got an autograph from the Stinger as well. That's right My Grandma Mimi was quite busy, she just didn't write to the WWF but also to WCW because I loved them both! I was a huge fan of Sting then and the Sting that I loved Unlike Owen & Yoko, he didn't say to Me but it's still great



Together: Here they are all together, this is one of the reasons why 1995 was My fave year of all years and why wrestling from that time is My fave of all When 96 happen it seemed like everything everywhere was slowly changing and falling a part I look at this and sometimes I cannot believe that My Grandma Mimi did this for Me, it was so good of her that she did ALL of this for Me



NOTE 1: When Yokozuna debuted, I told My Grandpa he was gonna be world champion, he said no he isn't and I said he is. Then at WM 9 he beat Bret and was...I knew he would be and even though Hogan beat him that night he got it back a while later at the KOTR 93...I loved Yokozuna!

NOTE 2: Now you see why I said I have A SPECIAL CONNECTION TO OWEN HART ESPECIALLY YOKOZUNA Everybody always talks about Eddie Guerrero this & that and God rest his soul but hardly ever Owen till recently with AEW and only once in a very, very blue moon about Yokozuna. Poor Owen died in 1999 because of what Vinnie Mac & Vic Venom made him do and that's on their hands Only a year later Yokozuna died. There is much more to this and its not right I know what good people they were and I don't care what anybody says, nobody that's a fan has a bigger connection than I do with Yokozuna & Owen Hart, NOBODY

[BrandonDaCollector]

My Grandpa!

This tribute would not be complete without a little bit of My Grandpa PoPo. I will talk a bit about him here for a little while because I was VERY to close to him as well. He was the father I never had, we loved going Golfing, the Batting Cages, riding bikes, walking around the block, watching Wrestling & Baseball and Boxing with each other & My Grandma. He IS the reason how & why I got into movie music so much and I watch Alien & Aliens so much with him when I was a younger as well as other great movies. He called Me Hydester as a nick name. My Darth Hyde character's name was an inspiration to HIM I did almost as much with him as I did with MiMi and we go so much together hence My great Willow experience I have spoke about time & time again

Here he is in the classic 80s! He was the greatest man I ever knew. He was in the army and made Drill Sargent. He was the top guy at Scott Air Force Base of the Armed forces branch in Illinois. He built & fixed airplanes & choppers. He saw Larry King in person but never wanted to meet him. He was a fitness nut & was very muscular. He worked at A&M and was a bicycle expert His passion was motorcycles, bought, customized and everything to them. He and Mimi traveled a lot, won countless motorcycle trophies. He was a comedian at times and made Me feel joy and protected. He wasn't a gamer but he loved the original Tetris, he always beat us and racked up the highest points even more so was always wanting to be beat his own score and there is very few ever that could match his scores He was My best friend



Here is My previously seen Imperial Godzilla 1985 that he got Me when he was on a trip in Kansas City Missouri. He was in a special shop, saw him in the window and knew I would want him because he knew I was a huge Godzilla fan! This is one of the most cherished things ever from My PoPo When My Grandma was young, she almost applied for a job at Imperial



Wrestlemania VI: He loved the Ultimate Warrior, he was actually a bigger fan of his than I was. He liked Hogan too but not as much as Me. He was crazy about this event because how epic it was. These were some of the best moments ever in wrestling and PoPo helped it become that way for Me



Mean Mark & The Undertaker: Around the time of WM6, he said to Me, Hydester, wouldn't it be something that if there would be a wrestler called "The Undertaker" I don't remember My response, I think I said something like yep it would be. Well, months later at the WWF Survivor Series 1990 (which was huge) the mystery partner for Ted Dibiase would be named "The Undertaker" He flipped out and so did Me & MiMi. If that wasn't enough he was Mean Mark Callous and we're like that'a Mean Mark from WCW...it was surreal at the time and I remember how it was and still can't believe that My Grandpa PoPo said this, it's like he either knew without knowing it or somebody heard him and took his idea

[BrandonDaCollector]

Zulu (1964) & Copycat (1995): These 2 of My Grandma's favorite movies ever!



Freddy Fender: She loved him, she was a huge Elvis fan too but she loved Freddy!



Here is just some of the video games we used to play. She beat Jaws countless times (follow the story in My Video game topic). She was a huge Columns player, she played that arguably more than anything else and yes it was very fun. We loved Tetris Attack & Mario Kart for the N64 as well as the SNES. We loved the Dr. Marios and she loved the Busta-Move games. She also was big player of Fishing games as well. We loved the new Tetris. Not pictured but she always played baseball games with Me too. I picked on her in Rampage for the N64 Blockbuster put the wrong game in the wrong box but I loved the game we got even more. She always got to the last stage of Tetris Sphere, she never beat it and was always kind of bummed about it and now Here is the games

[BrandonDaCollector]

IN-CONCLUSION

The last wrestling event she ever saw was the second AEW Rampage when CM Punk made his long awaited return. Every time I see this pic and them clips and basically when I see him I think of this now



Me & Mimi: Here we are together during one of our many trips to the our usual stores This reminds Me one day in May of 2004, the power went out, we went Schnucks in a bad storm, went to Walgreens to get supplies, it stormed at least 2 more times. Ate at Steak'n Shake for a while, came home, played card games with the lanterns on and talked all night and all morning. As horrible as that night could've been, it was actually one of My most memorable nights because we were together and she was with Me



I hope that she is with our neighbor friend Wanda Wade. She & MiMi were besties and then she was My Auntie, she left this world several years ago already I did a lot of things with her too. She helped Me out with so many things, remember them great Dinosaur thimbles I showcased last year? I got them because of her...when I post My Marvel, I will talk about her even more

Here is MiMi with Auntie Wanda and the great Dinosaur thimbles I found because of her




Gloria & Ronnie TOGETHER: This is a classic picture of them together in the 80s, they will be together buried side by side and be together once again. I just hope they are together in Heaven or wherever the departed goes.



I will dearly miss her and may My Grandma MiMi, rest in peace