Personal Post: MY NANA

These are badly scanned, very old pics, but I wanted to remember my grandmother on today as it has been 3 long years since she passed away. Life just hasn't been the same since she left us. There's absolutely no denying how special of a person she was by just looking at her wonderfully sweet smile and her loving eyes. She was loved by all and I hope I can say that when/and if I reach my 80's I have touched and cared for as many lives as this Godly woman did in her lifetime. I miss her terribly. She was my best friend, my mentor, the one I ran to with ALL problems, who listened without a word of judgement, who kept me in sunday school and church, and was always my safe place.

My favorite memories (simple as they may be) seem to go back to spending the night at the last minute when I was fighting with my parents (I was quite the 9 yr old drama queen, right Rhonda? =)), watching a bit of Golden Girls or Designing Women, hearing the big grandfather clock strike ten (our bedtime), then waking up at 5 a.m. and sneaking into the living room to catch her throwing the wood into the fireplace to make a big warm fire, then she would fix a huge breakfast for her and I to enjoy and sometimes Gabe & Russ (but I was always a little selfish and enjoyed mine and her time alone). I also miss those late summer afternoons when I would ride my bike over when it had cooled off and not finding her in the house, I would call out her name as I went out the backdoor and I would hear her say WOOOOOHOOO, Jenny I'm in the garden and I would find her hoeing away with her big straw hat in her strawberry patch. Absolutely love that image and still find myself walking that path through her house wanting to hear her WOOOOHOOOO again. Oh, tons and tons of memories when life was so much simpler and she was still here.

I just hope she's looking down and smiling now and is proud of her granddaughter (and great-granddaughter, who I thank God for the blessing of letting Maci Jane have her memories of her, if even just a few).

Love you, Nana.