When I awoke this morning, my calendar alerted me that today in 2003, my Nannie passed away. Today seems as perfect as any to memorialize her and all she meant to me in my life.
I've wanted to write about my Nannie and Granddaddy for a long time now but every single time I start to type I freeze and tears slide down my face. The memories are palpable. They flood around me when I least expect it. I can be at the grocery store and see some Jergens lotion my Nannie always had in her bathroom or I can be at the drug store and pass the aisle of vitamins and fish oil tablets and see them in my Granddaddy's bathroom on the shelf.
If I were to list with bullet points who Mary Virginia Renfroe Zellner was to the outside world they would not nearly tell you the person she really was in my eyes.
- China painter
- Daughters of the American Revolution member
- Christ United Methodist Church member
- Retired Southern Bell employee
To me, my Nannie was a wife of nearly 65 years to the love of her life, she was my Triominoes and solitaire partner, she was my Date with Dell/As The World Turns TV buddy, she was my biggest fan. I could do no wrong in her eyes and selfishly I miss having that ally in my world. It didn't matter what I did, I was her girl, her "sister" (see previous post about "E"), her granddaughter, her world, her Natalie Ann.
I choose to remember my Nannie as she was during my years of visiting her in Forsyth for two weeks in the summer as a child (The Alzheimer's which took over her body late in life was not at all who my Nannie was in my eyes.) Life was so simple then, so full of easy tasks such as picking up pecans in the field, feeding the latest brood of cats and kittens in pie tins, heading to the local Salon to get my hair curled as a treat, heading to McDonald's or Dairy Queen (one of only 2 fast food restaurants in Forsyth, Georgia) and going to covered dish suppers at her church. I could go on and on with so many memories I cherish of my time with her.
I only have a few pictures on my computer of Nannie and am minus a scanner so I will share more later.
If you are still fortunate to have your Nannie or your Granddaddy in your life or in your kids, be a sponge! Take in all you can of their love, hugs and kisses.
Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley
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| Nannie with my Mom, Jean Ann Zellner O'Neal |
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| Nannie with newborn Margaret Virginia O'Neal |
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| Nannie with Margaret -- she was so happy when Margaret was around |
