Thursday, July 12, 2018
As a little girl, I was her sidekick, her wheeling and dealing/bargain hunting yard sale buddy who never took the ticket price as the final answer, the one she let stay up to chat over a Little Debbie Cream Pie while all the other kids napped, I was the tester of her Nanna Puddin, her lasagna’s biggest fan, and her ornery prankster in training. So many wonderful childhood memories include her voice, her eyes, her humor, her laugh, her snort.
In third grade we moved three states away but that didn’t stop her from being one of my best friends. Through the years, she would call and encourage me, cheer me on, celebrate with me, pray for me, and make me laugh so hard I would cry. Our prayers would always end thanking God that our relationship was more than just a Nana/Granddaughter, but a friendship. Before we ended each call, I would tell her to be sweet. Her reply always the same, “Oh, I don’t know about that, but I’ll try…” I always knew, that her pestering my Papa was her biggest hesitation.
She cheered me on through break-ups and always told me that my prince on a white horse was “A’comin for me.” She was right.
By the time she and Larry met, she was already slipping away from us, but the famous Nana humor kicked in when I told her he was a nurse. “Whewwww Whooo! I’m going to have to get sick, then.”
Oh how it hurts thinking that on this side of eternity, I’ll never hear her voice again, I’ll never see her tease my Papa just to watch him squirm, I’ll never get to hug her or hold her hand, I’ll never be scared to death by a pinch and a snort, I’ll never see her lips and eye brows quiver as she fakes a cry, and I’ll never be able to laugh with her, so hard, that we almost “wet our britches.”
In my selfishness, I feel angry, I feel robbed, but in my heart I know that Nana is finally at peace, she finally has clarity, she is no longer in pain, she finally knows who she is again...She is finally home.
Oh my precious, Nana. You are so loved and so missed. I have spent the last week laughing over memories and crying over the ones we never were able to make, but I am at peace knowing that those traits we loved so much are still present in your children and grandchildren. You may no longer be here, but your beautiful legacy lives on through us. I’m grateful that you were not just my Nana, you were my friend. Be sweet.
