Nana

I had a Grandmother named Faye, but we called her Nana. She was a riot. She wasn’t your ordinary every day run-of-the-mill grandmother. She was unique and special. I am sure every kid thinks their grandmother is unique and special, however ours really was. Let me share with you why.

First of all, Nana had red hair and green eyes, with a widow’s peak. When she was a kid, instead of reading books and magazines that were meant for young ladies, she was reading books called “Fate” –stuff about reincarnation, psychic abilities, etc…she said many thought she was a witch, and she really thought that was funny.

Nana was fun, I remember she had her ears pierced, and had over 500 pairs of earrings. We thought that was super cool. She’d let us look at them, all the time. I think she had like ten jewelry boxes. She wore glasses that she held around her neck by a chain. She wrote with her right hand, and did everything else with her left hand. She wore make up, which she let us use, all the time. Much to our mother’s chagrin!

Staying overnight with her rocked. She slept in a different room than my her husband, my step-grandfather. She said he snored. He said she kicked. But she had the most comfortable King sized bed, and then she also had this super twin. I always wanted the super twin to sleep on. My sister always slept with Nana. At night she would tell us ghost stories, while the window was open, so we could hear the symphony of frogs on the lake.

Nana always let us stay up well past midnight, and she always let us sleep in way past ten in the morning. We always went out for breakfast, always always. Lunch she would make at home, and dinner was always out, so we loved that.

She was a spontaneous gal – if we were watching television at night, and we saw a McDonald’s commercial, she’d say, “Who’s up for a milkshake and a cheese burger?!” And even if we were in our pajama’s, off in the car we’d go, drive 17 miles, and go get burgers.

Dancing was so important to her, she danced all the time. She danced in all styles, and we thought it was a hoot, when she’d put on her music and dance around the house. She would dance with us, her husband, a broom, or a mop, or anyone that was handy!