Everytime my mom comes by the house Nana asks me if my mom will be taking her with her when she leaves. I usually tell her it’ll be a surprise, but today I told her something different.
“No. I’m holding you ransom.”
She asked”how much?”
“$14.00”
Nana looked at me with this “you’re out of your mind” look and said with 100% certainty…
“She’ll never pay.”
“You need to find the good in your job. If you’re not happy then you can’t make other people happy. And that’s important.”
“The best lesson I’ve learned in life is not to worry about what other people think. God has a plan for you so do what you think God would like.”
.smartest.lady.ever.
My usual routine:
Wake up to barking pups (long before I’m ready to rise), check on Nana on my way to free the hounds, and start the coffee. This day started off no different from others….
Until I heard her.
She was yelling something, but could only make out one word. “Mary”.
I went to her room to check on her. She had visitors! And not just one. But two. (I’m going to need to explain to her that I’d like to at least brush my teeth and put a bra on before she has friends over.)
“It’s Mary and Joseph. They’re taking a walk. Oh wait. Ok… They’re sitting down to eat.” (She said that Mary was wearing a pink dress so I only found it fitting that she would be enjoying a nice meal out on the town with her husband)
I talked with Nana for a few minutes and then returned to the kitchen . Coffee had finished brewing! (We got a different blend than usual, not my favorite, but does the trick.)
45 minutes or so passed by. I went back into Nana’s room to see if the princess needed anything. Nana turned her shiny white-haired head to look at me and said (clear as day) “Mary and Joseph came to visit me.”
I asked her how she knew it was them. She pointed to her heart and said, “my heart knew”. I told her that if they visited her then it must mean she’s doing something right. She just looked at me again and said, “you just know.”
Have I explained how much I absolutely love this brilliant old lady?!?
It’s 2pm and I’m waiting for Nana to say something super nice to me again.
7:04pm … still waiting.
That’s it; no dinner for Nana…STARVE!
Just kidding, I ripped her from her bed in about 4 seconds flat at 9p so she could enjoy some of my famous grilling.
Nana enjoyed her mouthful eyeful of steak (medium rare, per her majesty’s request), corn on the cob, salad and spinich dip.
We sat on the couch together and watched basic television. We shared a blanket and flipped through every channel we could get reception for.
All 7 of them.
Shortly thereafter, Nana gave up and wanted to go back to sleep. Apparently I do not have a Spanish-speaking Nana, so none of the tv programs appealed to her.
I went into Nana’s room to get her changed and ready for bedtime. We were having a nice conversation when out of the blue she says, “Look. My eyes are closing. We should go to bed.” I let her know that I was finishing up and I’d be out of her way in just a couple of minutes. That was not good enough for her.
“Go to your room, and go to sleep NOW.”
(I told her that she is stubborn and now I know where my mom gets it from.)
I asked her if she was stern with her children. She said “yes, but I was good”. I told her I know that she is a good mother because she
raised my mother to be who she is.
I explained to Nana that she can be as stubborn as she wants (keeping in mind that Irish blood runs through her veins), but that I am
Italian and that means that I don’t listen. She laughed, but I know I was annoying her.
Abbie poked her head in the room and saw that Nana’s eyes were open so she said Hi to Nana. Big Mistake! Nana immediatly looked over
towards the doorway and said (sternly), “Good Night”. She wanted no part in conversation or company. Tough.
According to Nana, 8pm is bedtime. For everyone.
I decided to wait until she had fallen asleep before I crept back into her bedroom and “mess with her”; I still had to give her her bedtime medicine.
Once I was safetly at Nana’s bedside I turned to Abbie and quietly said, “Here I go”, expecting some kind of stern, verbal attack.
To my surprise, what I got instead was beautiful and memorable…..
Nana opened her eyes and reached out for my hand.
(she does this to me often, but this time I figured she wanted to borrow money or something, so I was a bit reluctant).
As I held her hand, I kissed her “goodnight” on the forehead (as I always do) and whispered, “I love you, Nana”.
Nana replied, “I love you too. Always remember that. I love you and you love me. Never forget.”
I felt my eyes start to well up with tears, because in that moment, she was so clear.
I smiled at her and told her that she is the best Nana in the world.
“I hope so.”
Nana smiled back at me and said, “You’re my Granddaughter.”
While talking about Papa (who passed away some 20-odd years ago), Nana said how much she missed him and that God shouldn’t have taken him away from her without talking with her about it first. (She was only 1/2 joking!)
We talked about how she will see him again in Heaven. I told her that whoever from this family gets there first, they will tell Papa
that we all love him and that we say “hi”.
She stated that it will probably be her because she’s the oldest. Rather than telling her she’s probably right on that one, I said
“well you never know!” (I was taking the opportunity to have some wishful thinking that Nana, will in fact, live forever)
I then asked her if she was afraid of dying. Without thought Nana said, “No, why would I be?” I told her that the thought of dying is scary to me and asked how she isn’t scared, too.
“Because I’m prepared. And I’ve prayed.”
I asked her if she prays often. She does. I asked what she prays for….
“My children. Because I love them, and they love me.”
I have a new roommate! A few things about her:
The pros:
She never complains when I don’t clean up after myself, the dogs love to smell her, great story-teller, she’s beautiful, smart, funny and I love her
The cons:
She leaves used tissues laying around, has a short attention span, she eats all day, she makes too much noise in the middle of the night, stubborn and has too many visitors (oftentimes unannounced)
Did I mention she’s my one million 93 year-old Nana?!?!
This is our journey…
nana_duty 