Who are you? you might ask. Well . . .
I am a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a great granddaughter, a niece, a cousin, a partner, a friend, a university student, a teacher assistant and a child carer. These roles are what provide me with my moments of love and laughter.
Some may say it's far too cliché, but I like to think of myself as extremely lucky to have such amazing people in my life, especially my family and friends. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, my family, specifically my grandma and great grandmother (nanny) have become famous amongst my friends and co-workers for their many weird and wonderful stories, which will always keep you laughing.
There aren't too many people who can say that they were privileged enough to meet their great grandparents, nor spend many years with them by your side. My nanny is scheduled to turn 102 years of age in February. My, my what a mighty feat that it. Here was I as a young child wondering how long I would have Nan in my life, well safe to say she's sticking around for a while longer. I admire my Nan’s love of life and all it's simply pleasures. Nan holds her family in the highest regard, and so do we with her. She moved into a nursing home a few years ago as her ability to car for herself appropriately deteriorated. Although she was sad to leave her home of many years she quickly adjusted to her life in the nursing home and openly said "well, I love my home and I will miss being there, but I know that this is the best for everyone. I can't expect you all to look after me". Nanny is most definitely a glass half full kind of lady, seeing the brighter side of life and placing others before herself.
I visit Nan regularly in the nursing home and spend my afternoons with her. So, it's only fair that you take her her favourite party food: lemonade, toffee's or spearmints and Savoy biscuits. Nan and I will catch up on the latest gossip and she will usually tell me a story or two. When I was a child, Nan would walk from her place to ours every Sunday for a cup of tea and a biscuit. Nan would walk the country road with her scarf tied around her head to keep her hair set, a walking stick in one hand and a present of some sort in the other. Nan did this every week up until her mid 90's. Nan would never come empty handed as she would either bring us a homemade sponge cake (leaving cream out of a quarter of the cake for me), kiss biscuits with sprinkles on top, coffee biscuits joined together with butter, OR on that one day when food supplies were running a little low, Nan walked to our place with a brown paper bag containing one big ripe tomato. She came inside and handed it to us saying "Well, I didn't have too much in the pantry today so I bought him up for you. I know it's not much but he sure is a 'gooden'." We never expected anything of Nan, her presence was more than enough, but she refused to go anywhere empty handed.
I have a few stories to share with you. Mind you, I say a few because there are simply too many to put into writing. Well let’s see . . .
One day, when Nan and pop had not long been married, they made a trip to the races, Nan wore a gold bracelet on her wrist. When it came time to cheer, she shook her arm high in the air, spurring on her horse, only to realise later that her bracelet had gone. How disappointed she was. Nan was convinced that someone had stolen it. So, if you wear a bracelet to see Nan, expect to hear this story.
Nan regularly tells me to zip up my handbag so no one steals my wallet. Seeing as my grandma's wallet was stolen from her handbag whilst on a holiday in Melbourne. Mind you, grandma wasn't too worried about her money being stolen, nor her credit cards, no, not my grandma. Grandma was more worried at that fact that grandad's photo was in that wallet and "it's sad to think now that he's going to be put in a bin somewhere". Nan now feels it’s her duty to inform others of this unfortunate event and how they can avoid this happening to them.
Nan regularly speaks of her husband, who passed away in his mid 70's. Nan and pop were so in love and devoted to one another. Although Nan loves to tell you many a story about pop, after she finishes, you can see a tear at the corner of her eyes. Nan and pop created a life on the farm, milking cows and breeding sheep. In the early days, when times were rough, pop was required to go away for months at a time, rabbit trapping. He would write to nan regularly and speak of how he missed her so, always ending his letters with an 'I love you'. My grandad, their son, has these hand written letters tucked away safely. A wonderful family heirloom.
Every Christmas, Nan tells us the story of when she was a child and how she had picked a bucket full of cherries and put them in the laundry on Christmas eve. Only to wake the next morning to find that Santa had taken her cherries. Still to this day, Nan can't understand why Santa would do such a thing. As she says "I suppose 'Santi' felt like eating a few cherries. Suppose you can't blame him aye".
Nan drove her white ford escort (with the red vinyl seats) up until her mid 90’s. I can honestly say though that I was not game enough to take a ride with nanny. Taking a ride with Nan would require you to wear a helmet, purely for safety reasons. Nan would drive up our road at approx 40kms, however, she was very reluctant to put the car into 2nd gear. Therefore, the poor escort would sound as though it was dying a slow and painful death, forever stuck in 1st gear. On the odd occasion when she would change gears, you would see Nan zooming up the road, the clutch would go in, the car would roll back a little, changed to 2nd gear and she would be off again. Oh what fun my brother and I had watching Nan’s driving.
Well there it is, that’s my nanny in a nut shell.
No comments:
Post a Comment