July 23, 1918 - June 18, 2011
My Nana went to be with the Lord last Saturday. It has been very bitter sweet. She would have turned 94 next month. She definitely had a very long and happy life.
My favorite memories of my Nana are from when I was a little girl. I had special sleep overs at her house. Well I thought they were special. I got to sleep in the big bed. My grandmas bed was SO tall. (I'm sure it wasn't that tall and that it was the fact of me being SO little) However, she made it feel like it was a throne. She would get me ready for bed. I would get to use her and Pops water pick. Which in itself was a highlight. Then I would put on a night gown and climb up onto the bed. Nana would grab my feet and pull me back and forth on the bed singing one of her little songs. We would giggle for about 10 minutes of her pulling me to the edge and pushing me back onto the middle. After that she would put me in bed and tuck me in. You have NEVER been tucked in if it wasn't by her! Oh my goodness! Talk about the death tuck. She got the sheets and blankets so tight around me. (Secretly she was terrified that I would fall out of the bed). After I was glued into bed she would put some large pillows next to me and on the floor....just incase her death tuck got loose. (Which it NEVER did). Nana would go back out to the living room with Pops and sometimes my older brother Jimmy... I think he got to stay up a little later than me-I'm not sure though, when I was put into the death tuck there was NO way out!
After being put to bed I would try SO hard to fall asleep as QUICKLY as I could! See Nana SNORED, and I mean SNORED! SO LOUD. Normally if I fell asleep before she came in I would be able to sleep though it. However, if I didn't fall asleep right away there was NO use.
I remember one night I fell asleep. I have no idea when she came to bed or what time it was but I woke up because I had to use the bathroom. Remember that death tuck. Oy! I tried SO hard to get out of it. I didn't want to wake her. I swear it felt like hours before I got out. When I came back there was no use in even trying to fall asleep.
Going to their house was always so fun. I would get to play on the type writer, go through their office drawers. There were drawers that I swear she made special for the grandkids. Drawers with candy, drawers with cards, drawers with twiddly winks, paper, crayons, balloons. Oh and the rotary phone. I would sit downstairs watching Dirty Dancing and play with the phone (that was in use of course).
There were nights all the family would go over there. Summer nights when we would sit on the back deck eating dinner, collecting fireflies, and climbing the railroad tie wall.
When I got older I would visit and we would sit and talk and watch Judge Judy. She would always say that the daytime drama was ridiculous. Who needs soap operas, watch Judge Judy at least it's real people. If the judge wasn't on we would sit and go through her jewelry box. I loved to pull out pieces and ask her about them. Most of them were costume jewelry but still so fun to look at and play with.
Nana would call me up and ask me to come over to look at her sewing machine. I had no idea what I was doing but the thread would always get messed up on her and she couldn't fix it. She has such bad arthritis she couldn't rethread. I would go over and some how get it working for her again.
I can't share enough about how much I love my grandma. She was always there for me. When I was home alone and I scared myself with ridiculous thoughts (which would happen all the time) I would call her up. She would stay on the phone with me for hours. She (we) would fall asleep on the phone so I wasn't alone.
Nana I love you! I will forever miss you! Tell Pops I say HI and LOVE and MISS him!!!
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