Our First "Touch"

Dear Liliyah:

From the first time I set eyes on you through that computer, I was counting the days until I had a chance to actually hold you in my arms.  There's just something about being a Grandma that is so hard to describe.  I love your Daddy and Aunt Abby so so much; but this Grandma thing is totally different and very special in its own way.

I planned a a Christmas trip out to see you; and the excitement waiting for the day when I got to board that plane for Portland, OR, just about exhausted me!  By the time the day arrived, I had a whole extra suitcase filled with presents and clothes for you!  I just couldn't stop myself!


I will never forget running through that airport when we finally landed.  And then I saw you.  Your Daddy was holding you up facing me.  You had on little bluejeans and a cute little hat.  I picked you up that day and for the whole week that we were there, I don't think I put you down for more than an hour!  Holding you for the first time was one of the best moments of my life.  I will never, ever forget it.



A couple of times I did allow Papa Tom to hold you....but not for long.  Papa Tom thought you had the fattest cheeks!  He would talk to you like you were an adult, and expected that you were understanding every word of it.




Love you,
Nana

Pappy

Dear Liliyah:

Now it's time to write about my Grandfathers.  My Great Grandfathers were all gone before I came along.  However, I have great memories of both of my Grandfathers.  These two men would be your Great Great Grandfathers.

So....do you remember Granny, your Great Great Grandmother and my Grandmother?  Her husband's name was Earl Smith.  This is who I called my Pappy.  Pappy was around until I was 4 years old; but it's amazing how much I remember of him.  He reminded me of the cartoon Popeye, and Pappy looked just like Popeye's father.  In the cartoon, Popeye's father was also called Pappy.  Maybe that's why I called him that?

Pappy was a mason.  He laid bricks and made roads.  This was way back in the 1930's to the 1950's when many roads were made out of brick instead of blacktop.  In the town of Holley, I remember when the roads in the village were all brick.  Those roads were made by Pappy.  Sometimes when there are potholes in the blacktop out there, you can see the bricks underneath.  I can remember when I was in High School and my friends and I would walk down into the village to get something to eat.  I would see bricks through the blacktop that had chipped away; and I would make sure all of my friends knew that my Pappy laid those bricks.  It was one way for me to remember him.

My Pappy had silver hair and always had a pipe in his mouth.  When I think of him today, I always remember the smell of his pipe.  I can remember my favorite game with Pappy.  Pappy would be sitting in his chair in the living room.   I would run through the house and into the living room; and when I would run past Pappy, he would grab me and lock me between his knees and tickle me.  I can remember laughing and screaming for Granny to come and save me.  Granny would come in and pretend
to scold Pappy and he would let me go.  Then we would do it all over again.

Granny and Pappy had a braided run in their dining room.  I use to like to walk around and around on that braided rug and follow the lines.  I felt like I was driving on a road and had to stay on certain braids as I went around and around.  Pappy said that I took my first steps on that braided rug.  Here is a picture of me when I was real little walking around that rug.  Pappy took that picture.

Catching me as I ran past him, rubbing his whiskers into my face, and laughing at everything I did.  That's what I'll always remember about my Pappy.  He was a truly happy man.

I remember the day Pappy died.  I was only 4 years old.  The brief memory I have is being in the back seat of the car holding my baby brother and my Mother and my Grandma Campbell were in the front.  Grandma Campbell pulled up to Granny and Pappy's house very quickly.  My mother got out of the car and ran as fast as she could for the house.  I didn't know until she got out of the car that she was crying.  She was so distraught that she didn't even kiss me good-bye.  As young as I was, I still knew that something very bad had happened.  Grandma Campbell took me back to her house.  As I grew older, I found out that was the day that Pappy had a massive heart attack and died.  He was 58 years old.

Your Great Great Grandfather Pappy will always be known to me as a happy man, smoking his pipe and teasing Granny, his kids, and his grandkids.

Love You,
Nana

Little Grandma Great

Dear Lil:

During my lifetime, I was fortunate to have one Great Grandparent.  The others were all gone by the time I came along.  Everybody called her Little Grandma; because she absolutely was very very little. She was Grandpa Campbell's mother and she lived on the dairy farm with Grandma and Grandpa Campbell.

It was pretty easy to find Little Grandma.  She was always sitting in the same place.  She had a special chair just inside the doorway when you walked into the living room.  It was a tradition that when you went to Grandma and Grandpa's house, you had to walk through that door to say "hello" to Little Grandma.  Her chair was on the left just as you walked through the door; and as soon as you walked in, she would take your hand and give you a little pat.  She didn't talk much, but was always smiling.  I had heard stories that she was a very hard working lady in her day.  She had many children, and they were all very tall.  My Grandpa was over 6 feet tall, which was unusual back then.  I would look at Little Grandma and just wonder how she managed to have all of these big children!

One of my fondest memories of Little Grandma was a day when she kept a big secret in order to keep me out of trouble.  I was 5 years old and my Mom and Dad had dropped me off at Grandma's house on a Saturday night so that they could go to a party.  I was spending the night and Mom and Dad would pick me up in the morning.  Little Grandma had a big bed; so whenever I spent the night, Little Grandma would let me sleep with her.  I loved it because she would snuggle right up to me and keep me warm.  I also got to wear one of her nighties.  They were so soft.  This particular night, Little Grandma started jiggling me to wake me up through the middle of the night.  She whispered, "Come on, get up....we have to change the sheets!"

I had peed in my pajamas and the whole bed was wet!  Once in awhile when I was little and was over tired, I would sleep so sound that I could easily wet in bet and not even know it.  I had been doing pretty good and my parents were praising me for going for a very long time without doing any bed wetting.  BUT, tonight was different!

Little Grandma and I took the sheets off the bed and we dried out the mattress.  Then she put a plastic covering over the mattress and we put new sheets and blankets on the bed.  She dressed me in one of her clean nighties and we crawled in bed and snuggled again.  She whispered in my ear, "This is our little secret."

However, I was always a very honest little girl.  My Daddy never liked it if I told a lie.  The next morning Little Grandma and I were sitting at the table eating breakfast.  My Mom and Dad walked in the door to pick me up and take me home.  My Mom said to my Grandma, "Was Jeanne a good girl?". Grandma always confirmed that I was the best behaved child.  BUT, silly me, I had to speak up and tell the truth.  I blurted out to my Mother, "Mommy, I made a mistake and peed in Little Grandma's bed!".

Both Grandma and my Mother turned to look at me and Little Grandma, the two of us sitting side by side and looking like a couple of bandits.  Little Grandma reached under the table and grabbed my leg and squeezed real hard as she said to my Mother, "No, she didn't pee in bed.  She was a very good girl.  My bed is perfectly dry."

I started to speak up again and correct her, but she squeezed my leg so hard that I couldn't say a thing! When my Mom turned her back, Little Grandma looked at me and just winked.  I knew then that she wanted me to keep this a secret.  A few minutes later my Grandma came around the table and whispered to the two of us, "I already washed the sheets, so nobody knows!"  I felt so loved by both of them that day.  Both Grandma and Little Grandma worked to keep me out of trouble.  I will never forget it.

Little Grandma died when I was still very young.  I remember that she was in the hospital for a few weeks, and then she was gone.  I don't remember going to her funeral; I think I was still too little for that.  I don't have very many memories of her; but the ones that I do have are all wonderful.

Just like me, at the time I am writing this, you have just one Great Grandparent....my father.  It really made his day when he met you for the first time.  I will talk about him soon in another blog.

Love....Nana

Grandma

Dear Lil:

Today I'm going to tell you about my Grandma.  This is my grandmother on my father's side of the family.  Out of my four grandparents, my Grandma was around the longest for me; she was the last one to go.  I actually had her in my life longer than I had my own mother.  Your Daddy also had many opportunities to spend time with Grandma (his Great Grandma).

Grandma's ancestors came from France.  Years before she was born their last name was LaBlanc, which means "white".  Before Grandma was born her parents changed the last name to White.  Grandma's first name is Irene.  Everyone tells me that I look most like this grandparent.  For many years I played Mrs. Claus at Christmas time for little children.  Everytime I put on my little old lady white wig and my granny glasses, I would look in the mirror and laugh; because I really did look like my Grandma!

Grandma was a very tiny little lady; however, she was one of the strongest, toughest women I had ever met. She gave birth to 9 children, the oldest of which is my father (your Great Grandfather).  This made me one of the oldest grandchildren (they had over 45).  So I experienced more alone time on the farm with my Grandma than most of the other grandchildren. She loved raising her children and grandchildren; and worked hard to teach them good manners and morals.  Grandma was never afraid of hard work.  She helped run the farm, was a good hunter, and raised all of her children and some grandchildren.  She also took in foster children; and from what I remember, there were hundreds who grew up on the farm and turned into wonderful young adults.  She was certainly a good teacher for me.  I learned so much about life and the lessons I could learn from all of my experiences as I grew up.

I remember one story that Grandma told me about her sister. When Grandma and her sister were little girls, her sister was somehow playing with fire.  Her dress caught on fire and it scared her and she began to run.  The fire got bigger and bigger.  Grandma tried to catch her; but it was too late.  Grandma witnessed her sister as she burned to death.  When I was little I heard this story many times; and Grandma always told me that if my clothes ever caught on fire to never run, but to fall down on the ground and roll around to put the fire out.  I can't imagine my Grandma having to see something like that happen to her sister.  BUT, she sure made it clear to her grandchildren that fire is dangerous.

Grandma and Grandpa owned a dairy farm with many cows, horses, pigs, cats....and chickens.  Grandma's job was to run the chicken farm.  When I was visiting on the farm, I would help Grandma in the chicken coop, collecting eggs and feeding the chickens.  I was always very little for my age; and those chickens seemed awful big to me.  I hated those chickens because they would always peck at the buttons on my shirt.  Back then, buttons were made mostly from crushed shells, and chickens thought that my buttons were good to eat.  My mother was always sewing new buttons on my shirts.

Once in awhile my Grandma would show a little sense of humor.  She wasn't your "class clown" like Granny Smith was; but she did like to laugh.  I remember once while we were collecting eggs in the coop and Grandma took an egg and smashed it on the top of my head.  I was only about 4 or 5 at the time. The egg started running down my face and I was spitting and wiping it out of my hair.  She stood there laughing at me until she was doubled over.  Then to make it all better, when we went in the house to measure the eggs, she let me play in the big bathtub that was in the kitchen, surrounded by lots of bubbles!  That was always a treat for me.  For many years that big bathtub was right out in the open; and that's where everybody took a bath!

Most of the time when we brought the eggs into the house, it was my job to measure them.  I liked that part. Grandma had a little scale that I would put the egg on.  If the egg did not tip the scale, I placed the egg in a carton labelled "small".  It it tipped the scale, it went into a carton labelled "large". Grandma sold eggs to other people, so this was important to know how to charge them.

In the spring time, Grandma would order crates of baby chicks.  We would drive to the post office and pick them up.  I always thought it was funny that baby chickens were actually mailed to Grandma through the post office. There was a place in the barn where she would put them until they grew. Lots of big lamps were around this area so that the baby chicks could huddle and keep warm.  Grandma would have to sort the baby chicks when we first brought them home.  If she found dead ones, or some that were deformed or weak, she would just put them in a bag and we would throw them out. The baby chicks were always so cute.  Grandma would let me play with them when I was there.

Then, Grandma would take all of the oldest hens in the coop and bring them outside for slaughter! Hens will only produce eggs for a few years; then they are no good to be raising unless you slaughter them and eat them!  Now....surprisingly this was fun for me.  Grandma would take each chicken, put their neck on a wooden block, and chop their head off.  Very quickly, one right after another; she was so good at this!  When she was finished, there would be 20-30 chickens running around the yard with no heads.  So if you ever hear the phrase, "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off"....that really does happen!  I always thought it was funny.  Once the chickens fell to the ground, Grandma would take them and dip them in very hot water.  Then it was my job to pluck as many feathers as I could from each chicken.  That took a very long time.  Once I finished, she would clean them and wrap them.

Grandma had a great chicken business.  She would keep enough eggs and chickens to feed her own large family; but she also sold eggs and chickens to others to bring in money for the family.  She did very well with this and she always considered it her contribution to the farm.  She also took care of all of the books for the farm.  They sold cows, milk, pigs, eggs, chickens, and other things.  I remember those books being huge!  There were no computers back then and not even calculators; so Grandma had to do all of the math herself and calculate everything.  She always had to do the books because apparently Grandpa was terrible with his math skills.

Grandma also had one of her sisters who always lived with her.  Pauline was mentally retarded and always needed extra care.  So Grandma took her in, raised her and always took care of her.  When Pauline was 7 years old, she was going to school.  At that time they had big school bells in the top of the steeple of the school.  Somehow this school bell came loose one day as the children were exiting the school.  Unfortunately, Pauline was the one who was coming out of the school just as the bell hit the ground.  It came right down on top of her.  This accident gave Pauline some brain damage and she always remained as if she were 7 years old.  When I was little, she was lots of fun because it was like having a playmate (even though she was much bigger).  When I would go to Grandma's, Pauline would do homework with me, color with me, ride bikes with me, play in the snow with me.  I loved having her around.  As I began to grow and become a teenager, Pauline did not grow with me.  Then I enjoyed helping Grandma take care of her.  I teased her and funned with her; but now she seemed like a child to me.  When Grandma died, Pauline was still alive; and they took her to Massena to stay with her brother.  At that time I never saw her again.  She finally passed away sometime in the 1990's.

One great memory about Grandma and the farm was her ability to make the best popcorn ever. Whenever the grandchildren were there in the evening, we would watch a movie and Grandma would make bushels of popcorn for us, covered with real home made butter and salt!  It was the best.  We would all get our own bowl of popcorn.  AND, when we were finished, she would walk around and give us each a little square of chocolate.  I always thought that it was so sweet of Grandma to give us a piece of chocolate after our popcorn.  However, later when I grew up and was on my own, my Grandma told me that she was not just giving us chocolate.  She was handing out small pieces of Exlax so that her Grandchildren didn't get bound up from eating too much popcorn!  She had us fooled all those years!  She finally told me about this one day when I went to visit her in a nursing home.  I must have had the strangest look on my face because it made her laugh until I thought she was going to fall out of her wheelchair.

Grandma also taught me how to sew.  My mother would buy a pattern for clothes and I would take it to Grandma.  She would help me make a list of all of the things I would need, I would go get those things in the store, and then Grandma would let me use her sewing machine to make my clothes. Grandma didn't have an electric sewing machine.  It was one that had a push pedal at the bottom to make it go.  I was so little that sometimes Grandma would have to sit with me to help push the pedal. The very first thing I ever made was a pair of pajamas.  Grandma has some old material left over from making curtains.  We used that to practice making a pair of pajams.  I did a perfect job.....until I tried the pajamas on and discovered that I had sewn the legs shut.  Actually, Grandma knew that I was doing it wrong, but she just continued to let me go and waited for me to discover it all on my own. Once again, she began laughing until she was doubled over.

After Grandpa died, Grandma would always say that she just wanted to go be with her man.  She slowly became weaker and weaker, ended up in assisted living, then a nursing home, and finally just passed away from old age.  Nothing was really wrong with her; she just lived to the normal life expectancy and passed on.  I think she was in her early 90's, but I can't remember the exact age.

I could go on and on about the wonderful memories I had with this little lady.  She was the sweetest little thing; but very tough raising her children and grandchildren.  I learned right from wrong, honesty, respect and many other things from her.  When she passed away, I had the honor of doing the Eulogy at the church.  I was the oldest granddaughter.  Then my cousin Crystal, who is the youngest granddaughter did the second part of the Eulogy.  We both had two different perspectives of how we viewed our Grandmother because we grew up with her at different times.  But one thing we both concurred,  she was one great lady.

Love....Nana

Here is a picture of Grandma holding onto her first born, Everett.  He is my father and your Great Grandfather.  Looks like he's about 2 years old here.  It also looks like Grandma is expecting her second child, which would have been my Uncle Gerald.

News of You!

Dear Liliyah:

It will take me my entire lifetime to post about my whole life.  BUT, I don't want to forget what's most important with this blog; and that's my memories of you!  So, every once in awhile, I'll come back to the present and write about a special memory of me and you.

You were born on July 28th, 2011.  However, I knew nothing about you.  It wasn't until October of that year when your Dad sent me a text message and said that he had to speak with me and it was very important.  He wanted to speak with me about 11:00PM that evening and insisted that I be on video Skype so that he could see me.

With me being a Realtor, I was sure he was in the process of buying a home and wanted his Mom's advice.  So I was all prepared with my pen and paper to take notes when he called.  I love helping my children when they need advice about anything.

So....Dusty gets on the phone with me and we are chatting about just little stuff.  He did say that he was thinking about buying a house, but I could tell that this wasn't the important topic he wanted to speak to me about.  There were also two women in the room; both whom I had heard about, but at that point I had not met either one personally.  Meredith (your Dad's girlfriend) was sitting next to him.  I knew that he had been dating her for many months, and I also knew that this woman could very well be the one he settled down with.  I was thrilled to finally be meeting her.  Sitting on the other side of him, was Chelsea (your mother).  As Dusty introduced her, I remembered around holiday time the previous year he had mentioned a brief intimate relationship with a girl named Chelsea.  It was short and sweet; and they decided to break it off and just remain friends.  Both knew that it wouldn't work.  At that time, nobody knew that a little miracle happened....named Liliyah...:).



I did find it a little odd that both Chelsea and Meredith were there with Dustin while he was speaking with me.  However, this younger generation was so much different from mine.  Even though relationships broke off, people still remained friends.  That rarely happened in my generation.  Then, all of a sudden, your Dad bent down and picked something up.  I found in front of me on my computer monitor a little baby dangling in his arms, looking right into the camera at me.  Her little head was bobbling back and forth and it looked like it was full of wonder as she studied the picture before her eyes.  A flashback immediately came into my head of the first time I held your father in my arms.  This baby looked just like the one I gave birth to  almost 30 years ago.  I must have had the most puzzled look on my face!  No wonder he wanted me to be on video.

He then said to me, "Mom, remember I told you that I've been thinking about buying a home?  Well, this is the reason why.  You're a Grandma!"

I was totally speechless as the three of them began to tell their little story; and I just sat there staring at this baby.  All of a sudden, it wasn't just a little creature staring at me in the computer.  The bond of Nana and granddaughter was instantaneous and I wanted to just reach out and pull you through that computer.

I remember commending your mom and Meridith for handling this news so well.  You are so very lucky Meridith immediately took you on as her own and smothered you with almost as much love as your mom.  It's very unusual for a child to see both their birth mom and possibly their future mom get along and respect one another as well as these two did.  You are a very lucky little girl in that respect.

The rest of that phone call was Dusty talking and you and I staring at each other.  When I finally hung up and went to bed, I couldn't sleep.  I just stared at the ceiling all night.  I began thinking of all the things I could do with you; all the things I could teach you; and couldn't wait to have a chance to play with you.

The next morning I called my brother and sister to tell them.  I didn't call my father (your Great Grandfather) because I knew that your Dad wanted to call him.  And, I wanted to make sure I was in the office by noon because your Dad was going to call your Aunt Abby.  I just had to be there to see the look on Abby's face when he told her; and it certainly was funny!  She was stunned and excited!

Before I went to the office that day, I did some very important things.  I booked flights for Tom and I to go out and see you at Christmas.  Then I went to Buy Buy Baby to get you some clothes; and I also found a tiny little witch hat for your first Halloween costume.

Your coming into this world gave me a renewed outlook on life.  I am a person who is always full of purpose and passions; but news of you gave me one of the biggest passions I have ever had in my entire life, right up there with raising my own children!  I immediately began my mission to enjoy every minute I could spend with you!  Nothing more incredible than this could have happened to me at this stage of my life!

You were the best present that has ever come into my life!

Love....Nana

Granny Smith

Dear Lil:

Although I loved all of my grandparents, my Granny Smith was my favorite.  She was funny and was always playing jokes on people.  Granny's name was Lilian; and people called her Lil.  Of course, I always called her "Granny".  It is just by accident that you are also named Lil; but I like that you have the same name as my Granny.  Granny was about 5'2" and quite plump.  She had grey wavy hair...and no teeth!  She lost her teeth at a young age and could never afford false teeth.

Granny was always very poor, but very rich at heart.  She lost her husband (my Pappy) when I was only 4 years old, so she was responsible for her own survival, as well as those kids still living at home.  I remember her living in many different houses; and found out when I was much older that Granny was renting these homes.  Once she got in trouble with paying the rent and possibly asked to move out, she would have to find another home.  I really don't think that Granny ever held down a job.  A few times I remember her talking about picking tomatoes or cherries during the summer for a farmer; but she never really had any education.  The three youngest children, Bill, Nina, and Esther, always lived with Granny and helped support her.  Nina did get married and moved away; but Esther and Bill never married until later and remained to help Granny until she died.  I don't ever remember Esther working; so it was probably Bill who worked to support Granny.

Granny had 10 children.  When she had her oldest child, she immediately got pregnant again.  She was not healthy at the time and she and Pappy (her husband and my grandfather) really didn't have the money to raise their first born properly.  So, she sent her first born child to her sister's home; her sister Claire was married and very well to do. They had every intention of taking their child back once Granny got on her feet.  However, Granny just kept having babies and there never seemed to be an appropriate time to bring her oldest daughter back home.  Of course, her sister Claire was growing more attached to this little girl every day; and so it ended that Claire raised Granny's first born child to adulthood.  I think because this little girl (Judy by name) was raised in a very well-to-do household, she remained one of the healthiest of the kids and even though she is the oldest of the 10 children, she is still alive as I write this blog.  Yout Daddy will remember my Aunt Judy.  When I lost my mother (your Daddy's grandmother), my Aunt Judy spent lots of time with your Daddy and your Aunt Abby while the rest of us were at the funeral home.  Dustin and Abby were 8 and 11 years old.  Aunt Judy taught them how to play a card game called Euchre; and she taught them how to cheat at Euchre so they could beat me and your Grandpa at card games!

So, Granny and Pappy continued to raise their other 9 children.  One of them died at age 2 of pneumonia. His name was Bobby. Way back then, there were very few cures for things like this.  Although they were very poor and didn't have much, Granny always made it fun for the kids as she raised them. All of my aunts and uncles continue to tell me stories of the fun they had.  To give you an idea of how these children were raised, my mother use to tell me that they very seldom could afford meat.  One of their main meals daily was cooked macaroni...nothing mixed in with it...just plain cooked macaroni.  The children usually walked to school barefoot.  Having shoes or even a coat for the winter were a luxury; and until the kids were off on their own, they usually didn't have even the basic things for growing up.  Consequently, they were not raised in a healthy environment and many of them are now gone.  The two youngest girls died in their 40's; one of the boys died in his early 50's; and my mother (Letha) died at age 58.  Here are Granny's children in order of age:  Judy, Watson (Smitty), Carl, Letha (my mother), Ruth, Edith, Nina, Bill, Esther, Bobby.  As of July 2017, all of these children are now gone, except for the oldest....Judy.

Granny herself also died at age 58 of lung cancer.  She was a smoker, and that is definitely what took her life.  My mother was in her early 30's at the time and I was only 11 years old.  Although only 11, I have many great memories of my Granny.

In my very early years of school, I went to a Catholic school.  This school was within walking distance to my Granny's house at the time.  So, on Fridays, my mother would pack my suitcase and send me off to school on the bus. We lived out in the country, so I always had to take a bus to school. Granny, who lived in the town, would walk to school and pick me up after classes and I would spend the weekend with her.  Then on Monday morning she would walk me back to school and I would take the bus home.  I did this almost every single weekend from age 5 until around age 10 when Granny started to become ill from the lung cancer.

We would always have the best time.  My fondest memories is having toast and tea in the morning with Granny.  With her having no teeth, she always had soft foods.  So she taught me how to dunk my toast in my tea.  It became a favorite of mine.  Granny would also re-use her tea bags.  If you opened up her cupboard, you would see about 10 of them hanging up on little tacks.  I always thought that was funny.  She also got me hooked on bags of crushed pecans and walnuts.  We use to open the bags and just eat the crushed nuts with a spoon. Remember, Granny had no teeth, so she had to eat crushed nuts. For many years I use to make my own mother buy me crushed walnuts and pecans.  I also became very close to my Aunt Esther and Uncle Bill because at this time they were both still living with Granny.  The laughter coming from this household was always amazing.  It was just one story after another.  I remember Granny trying to get me to say difficult words, like vinegar or aluminum.  When I would attempt to say these words, she would just laugh until the tears would roll down her face.  My cousin, Vicki, was also a regular visitor at Granny's.  We were two of the oldest grand-kids.  Sometimes Vicki and I spent the weekend at the same time.  I remember one time I was at Granny's and I brought a new paper doll that I had gotten for Christmas.  Vicki didn't have a paper doll.  So, Granny took a cardboard box and drew out a doll.  She cut it out and then took some paper bags and made some clothes for the doll.  Now Vicki had a paper doll that looked just like mine so we could play together.  I remember thinking at the time that I did not realize that my Granny had an artistic talent.  That paper doll was amazing.  But, Granny never had the money or the support to go off to school to develop any of her talents.  I was convinced that day that if she went to school to learn a trade,  she would have done something in the art field. 

Once Granny became sick, my visits were more infrequent, and I would have to wait until she felt better before I could spend the weekend.  Visiting her when she got sick was not as fun.  Granny became sad and would hold me and cry.  I think she knew that her days were limited and she and I would not be able to be together anymore.  No matter how hard I tried, I could not make her laugh.  Granny ended up in a nursing home during her last days with us.  I remember the day very clearly when our phone rang and my mother answered.  It was my Uncle Bill to tell my mother that Granny had passed away.  My mom told me what had happened and then she walked to the kitchen window and just stood there for a very long time.  I knew she was crying.  I went into the living room and laid on the couch with my face buried in the cushions and cried for hours.  I could not imagine my life without my Granny.

So....what did I learn from Granny?  I learned that you don't have to have much to be happy.  I learned that people can be wealthy, but they are not always rich.  I learned that my Granny, although very poor, led a very rich life.  She taught me how to laugh; to see humor in everything; to have fun; enjoy life; and to make the best of what I have....even if it's not a lot.  I learned that everything is valuable; and you can make things out of paper bags, cardboard, or even an old block of wood.  My creativity and my sense of humor definitely come from my Granny.

As for your Daddy, he never knew his Great Granny (your Great Great Granny), but he has in him an artistic talent that might possibly come from her; and his free-spirit, fun-loving nature is definitely a trait that comes from this ancestor.

Love....Nana

One day my sister was cleaning out her photos and found this picture of me and Granny. This is the only picture that I have with the two of us; and it was such a great gift from my sister.  This was at my Kindergarten Graduation in 1959.  I was 5 years old.  Granny was probably around 52.

Your Heritage

So, my Little Lil; let's start with your heritage.  I can only tell you about your Daddy's side of the family; and, of course, I know much more about my side of the family than I do your Grandpa's.

Your ancestors are from France, Scotland, and Sweden, with a tiny bit of Irish and German....and there's speculation that there's even some Cherokee Indian in there.  Like most Americans, you are quite a mixture. BUT, for the most part, I would say that your French, Scottish, and Swedish traits are the ones that are dominant.  You get your French and Scottish traits from your Nana; and your Swedish (and some French) traits from your Grandpa Olson.

You look very much like your Daddy; and your Daddy looks very much like me.  The only difference is that I have very dark hair; and most people say I look very French.  However, there are many days when I look at you and your Daddy and I see expressions that look very much like your Grandpa; and he looks very Swedish.  And, one other thing I'm very excited about is that it looks like you are going to have those beautiful light violet/grey eyes that your Aunt Abby has.  You have had the most beautiful eyes from the very first photo I saw of you at birth.

I loved all four of my grandparents and learned so much from all of them...even though I was only 4 years old when I lost one of my grandfathers.  I am going to dedicate a blog post to each one of my grandparents for you, so that you can see how much a grandparent is capable of teaching their grandchildren.  Right now you are just a little baby. But, someday, you will probably also be a grandparent.  And, because of you, I have become a grandmother; and I can certainly tell you that becoming a grandparent has changed my life.  I not only learned many things as a grandchild, but I'm learning even more as a Grandparent.

Love you....Nana

Dear Liliyah

Dear Liliyah:

I decided to start a blog for you.  You can't even read yet, but one day these blogs will be important to you. You are my first grandchild; and oh how excited I was when I found out you had come into this world!  I think about you every day and want to be so much a part of your life.  I have enjoyed watching you grow; seeing you learn; and laughing at how much you remind me of your Daddy when he was little.

One thing I do know....one does not become a Grandmother until the second half of her life; and a child usually has a Grandmother for the first half of one's life.  So, you and I will have less than half of our lives to spend together.  I will get older and leave this world; and will probably be very lucky if I see you reach age 30.  However, I'm going to make sure that I enjoy every minute of your life as you grow into someone special.  Of course, to me, you already are perfect!

So, as many times as I can, I'm going to write in my blog, so that you will know every single thing about me.  Actually, the whole world will be able to read this; but the only one who matters to me is YOU.  I want you to know every single thing about your Grandmother.  By the time I leave this world, you will be able to read this and know more about me than anyone ever has.....(just don't give away all of my secrets).

I'm going to start from the very first day I was born and write down every single thing I can remember; and when you grow up and have children and grandchildren of your own, I hope you do the same thing for them.

I love you, Liliyah.
Nana

This is one of the first photos I received of you.  You are and always will be incredibly beautiful.