My dad ran off with another woman when we, his children, were quite young. With no support, Mom had no choice but to work a couple of jobs and we would be sent to live with her own mother so we could be properly cared for.
Grandma lived in a fairly modest little house in a Southern German town (I don’t wish to be more specific than that) – she was a lovely person and a good carer for us but she was perhaps a bit easier on us, when it came to discipline, than I think Mom would have liked. I guess Grandma felt rather sorry for us kids and I can only remember once her spanking one of us herself.