She'd have been 95 on December 30th 2010.
You'd have loved my Nanna. No really, you would have. I don't know anyone who met her that didn't absolutely fall in love with her.
She was quirky, funny, amazing, genuine, goofy, tender hearted, stubborn, zany, silly, spontaneous, brilliant, and the lover of animals and her family.
God she loved her family, and she loved them hard -- she used to tell me she loved us all so much sometimes she couldn't catch her breath. I didn't understand what she meant until I had my child and then I got. I too love my child so much I sometimes forget to breathe.
Her spontaneity I think was one of my most favorite things about her -- I know that's where I get my mine from. I can remember one summer night my sister and I were staying with her at her house on the lake. We were up late, watching television. Her husband (my step grandfather) had gone to bed many hours earlier. A commercial for McDonald's appeared on the television and Nanna said "Oh my God, I am starving for a cheeseburger let's go!"
We were in our PJ's for cripes sakes. But that didn't stop her, she loaded all in the car at 10 PM and off we set to the nearest McDonald's 17 miles away. And cheeseburgers we did get, along with icy cold coke and french fries. As I recall we chattered about everything and nothing on the way home. It was lovely. Simply lovely.
As the years sped by and we grew older our conversations with her changed -- she wanted to make sure her granddaughters were independent -- fiercely so. She talked so much about Cathleen who we all referred to as Cat or Catbird -- Nanna talked about how it wasn't fair that she didn't get to see her two other grandchildren (Cat and Chad) like she did us. But she would then exhale and say "Life isn't fair, and it is what it is, and I beam my white light and love to them, I know they receive it every day" and that's how Nanna lived her life. She was a technicolor lady who didn't let anything set her back -- not even her illness.
She would have been so proud of Cat -- especially how Cat's become this accomplished writer, and has such a prolific way with words. You see, words were Nanna's thing. She loved words. She loved writing, talking, and most of all communicating.
Now I suppose this looks like I am attempting to establish Sainthood upon my grandmother which isn't true. If she taught me one thing that was that no one is perfect. Not even the great Alpha and the Omega as she would say -- everyone falls short no matter who they are.
My grandmother wasn't a saint. Not by a long shot. She burned the candle at both ends. She didn't take care of herself -- at all. She was overly emotional, she knew how to play the victim roll really well, and she did what she was going to do by God, and she wouldn't comply!
But those are the very things I loved about her the most. The things that made me laugh, and fist pump and say BOOYAH!
And miss her -- boy do I miss her. More than you know. She would have loved my son, God she would have loved him. The conversations they would have had -- EPIC.
For that matter she would have loved all of her great grandchildren very very much.
So now my son has a Nanna -- my mom. And my Mom is living up to every bit of the Nanna legacy my Nanna did.
It's neat. I love it.
We were in our PJ's for cripes sakes. But that didn't stop her, she loaded all in the car at 10 PM and off we set to the nearest McDonald's 17 miles away. And cheeseburgers we did get, along with icy cold coke and french fries. As I recall we chattered about everything and nothing on the way home. It was lovely. Simply lovely.
As the years sped by and we grew older our conversations with her changed -- she wanted to make sure her granddaughters were independent -- fiercely so. She talked so much about Cathleen who we all referred to as Cat or Catbird -- Nanna talked about how it wasn't fair that she didn't get to see her two other grandchildren (Cat and Chad) like she did us. But she would then exhale and say "Life isn't fair, and it is what it is, and I beam my white light and love to them, I know they receive it every day" and that's how Nanna lived her life. She was a technicolor lady who didn't let anything set her back -- not even her illness.
She would have been so proud of Cat -- especially how Cat's become this accomplished writer, and has such a prolific way with words. You see, words were Nanna's thing. She loved words. She loved writing, talking, and most of all communicating.
Now I suppose this looks like I am attempting to establish Sainthood upon my grandmother which isn't true. If she taught me one thing that was that no one is perfect. Not even the great Alpha and the Omega as she would say -- everyone falls short no matter who they are.
My grandmother wasn't a saint. Not by a long shot. She burned the candle at both ends. She didn't take care of herself -- at all. She was overly emotional, she knew how to play the victim roll really well, and she did what she was going to do by God, and she wouldn't comply!
But those are the very things I loved about her the most. The things that made me laugh, and fist pump and say BOOYAH!
And miss her -- boy do I miss her. More than you know. She would have loved my son, God she would have loved him. The conversations they would have had -- EPIC.
For that matter she would have loved all of her great grandchildren very very much.
So now my son has a Nanna -- my mom. And my Mom is living up to every bit of the Nanna legacy my Nanna did.
It's neat. I love it.
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