In Memory of Nana (02 Nov 1943-02 Nov 2003)

***NOTE: This is not meant to be a religious demonstration. I am sharing the story of someone I loved dearly. So, don't click away the second you see anything to do with religion. The story is good.***

I'm not religious, and neither was Nana. Nana actually and truly believed in the Christian God. She was not a Sunday Christian, and though she was not perfect, she was the closest I ever saw to the real deal of what Christianity or any religion was intended to be if it originated from one's heart rather than the standard hypocrisy. She was not a radical. She was never judgmental. She showed love to those that the church might often shun.

So, in her memory, I will post something she wrote for the high school where she worked. It was not long after my birth, and I was her first grandchild. She worked in the lunchroom at a private school so that she could send her kids there. She eventually went on to become an R.N., and she worked in Hematology/Oncology at a non-profit hospital in her 40's and 50's. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's around age 57, and she passed away as I watched on her 60th birthday. She was very much my mother as much as my grandmother. She taught me everything from how to be a lady to how to put on pantyhose appropriately. She loved everyone, took in troubled teens, and at times was the only love ever seen by an individual.

I tried to leave punctuation and underlining just how she had it.

From The Talon, vol. XIV no. 3 Nov/Dec 1983, Terrell Academy, Dawson, GA

Memories........

I remember elementary school, ... fat crayons, big pencils, Dick and Jane, Fluff, and Spot, recess, the excitement of pictures, becoming alive as I discovered how to read!!

At home, I remember things like...The security of putting my hand in Mom's, (I still remember how it felt,) coming home from school to the smell of supper cooking; playing jump rope, or "jacks" until dark; How much fun it was to play in the mud, (My brother really appreciated my "mud pies", he even ate them!); and in the winter, riding a big sled in the snow, and lying down and making "angels" in the snow.

I remember when we lived in Idaho, how the coyotes sounded when they howled during the night, how my dad always was bringing home pheasant, deer, elk, rabbits, or even bear for us to eat. I especially remember the time my mother was so excited when she opened the back door one morning to be confronted by a black bear! (She ran, ....He ran!)

Then, as life moved on, I really felt "grown up" as I began Jr. High school. We loved our "poodle skirts", saddle oxford shoes, "bobby sox", and of course our "can-can" slips that we wore with our skirts. (Sometimes it was hard to walk through a row of seats where all the girls sat.) Now they're only worn when people are "clogging", but then we wore them every day!

And of course, we loved Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson; and songs like "Blue Suede Shoes", "Blueberry Hill", "Purple People Eater", and "Through the Green Door."

Then, High School!!! I really felt this was It! Surely nothing else in life could ever compare with all my great friends, cars that were lowered to nearly drag the ground, (otherwise you were considered a 'square'), loud music at all hours of the day if possible, and ball games. Chrysler High School in Indiana had at the time the largest high school gym in the world. It seats 10,000 people. And was full for most of the ball games. Our favorite dating game pastime was to drive through every drive-in eating place in town, drinking lemon or cherry cokes, adn of course, trying to see who could leave the most of a tire on the pavement from a standing position.

Then, came marriage, leaving home, and over a period of 10 years, four daughters; and I found that life continues to be fascinating even when school is behind us. Now at age 40, I find that life passes so quickly! My girls are nearly all grown; I am now a grandmother!!

Of course, along with all the good memories, are many bad, heartbreaking memories also, as always come to everyone.

But, the Golden Thread that runs through the tapestry of my life started the days when I was 10 years old, and I knelt down beside a couch and asked Jesus to come live in my heart. He did, and he has been there through all the good times and bad times.

Some time in all our futures, our life will all only be a memory. And for each one of us, there is a record being kept of the life we are living here on this earth. When the day comes that we stand before God to give account of how we have spent this life that He has given us, only Jesus will be able to cover for us, and even if we've lived a good life, that will not be sufficient if we have not stopped to take the time to invite Christ to be our Personal Savior. And what he saves us from is an eternity in Hell without Him.

We all feel like death only happens to "The other guy." But each one of us has an appointment also. And Dawson really has shown that death does not always take old people. I have gone to funerals of three teenagers in less than a year.

As we approach the Christmas season, let's remember that God's son did not come just so we could remember the birth of a baby! But Jesus came and lived a life here so He could understand just how you feel about life, and then He dies an agonizing death for one reason: so that you could not only have life on eart, but eternal life! As you see the Christmas lights and buy gifts for one another in rememberance of the Birth of the only one who can ever give you access into the beautiful things that God has in store for you; remember the old saying that is really true:..."only one life, will soon be past: only what's done for Christ will last."

...What have you done? I love you all,