Nana

I have a special relationship with my Nana. Until I was 8 years old, my parents and I lived downstairs from my Mother’s parents, Nana and Poppy. Peter, my brother, was Poppy’s little boy and I was Nana’s little girl, always getting to sip her coffee, or chew a piece of gum when I went to visit. At special meals, it didn’t matter where I sat, as long as Nana was next to me. As I’ve grown, my love has only grown stronger towards her. Grandparents are given to grandchildren to demonstrate unconditional love, and maybe grandchildren are given to grandparents for the same reason. I can only hope.

Last June, I had a few days off from work, and I jumped at the opportunity to fly home and visit my family. Peter’s wife Heather was pregnant and I decided I didn’t want to miss her whole pregnancy. I made plans with Heather to drive down to south Jersey and surprise my Nana and go to the shore for the day. It was so wonderful to see the delight on her face when she opened the door and saw me. She said she thought at first it was just wishful thinking. We had a wonderful day on the beach and Nana even held my reflector as I photographed Heather. I always love visiting my Nana, but I believe that God prompted that trip, not only to visit Heather, but because my Nana fell very ill just a month later, and the next time I saw her she was in intensive care on life support.

I won’t recount the full story, but my grandmother contracted pneumonia on a trip to Alaska in early August. Somehow the pneumonia went undetected for several weeks, until another doctor took over her care. (She now refers to him as “the doctor who saved my life”) But, by this time, her lungs were only at 30% capacity, and she ended up on a ventilator, with a staff infection and internal bleeding from a bronchial scope. I flew up to be with her and had a special time writing to her and even reading my book aloud to her while she was unconscious. Somehow, beyond all hope, she started to recover. She had lost her voice because of the tubes down her throat and her muscles had atrophied, so she has had several months of recovery and rehab. She is determined that she will be golfing in the spring, which she says is a silly reason to want to recover, but I think it’s wonderful.

Charles and I are flying home this Friday and I am looking forward to seeing my grandmother out of the hospital for the first time in 6 months. She is so precious to me.