A few weeks ago, D.J. gave me the best suggestion about the blog to date.
"Why don't you ask Nana to do a guest post on the blog?"
How perfect, I thought. My Nana is probably my most loyal blog follower. I blog for fun but Nana thinks I missed my calling on being a journalist - HAHA! I appreciate the compliment, but I just type as I go and barely ever re-read what I type. I just got back to the words with the little red lines under them to fix the spelling and call it a day. When I asked Nana if she would do a blog post, I told her that this would mean so much to me and that all of you all would love to hear her words, she finally decided to write a little something up.
So ladies and gents, here goes my Nana - Edna!
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When my granddaughter, Cayte,
asked me to write something for her blog, I wasn’t sure I could write about a
subject her readers would be interested in.
Cayte gave me some suggestions, but there was one thought that was
foremost in my mind today – what a great daughter-in-law I have.
I never had a daughter, and
my one and only daughter-in-law, Gretchen, is Cayte’s mother. I fell in love with her from the first
meeting when my son, Steve, introduced her to me. When Steve, announced that he
was going to marry her, I felt that he had made a great choice.
My first meeting with
Gretchen’s family was at her wedding shower in Pennsylvania. I had never traveled there, and I was so
impressed with how beautiful the state is.
At the shower I got to meet her family and friends, and I realized why
she was so sweet, because all of her family and friends were so nice and made
me feel welcome to the fold.
Since Gretchen was in the
Navy and lived in Fredericksburg VA, I didn’t see a lot of her until the
wedding and afterwards. I learned right
away that she would always include me as a member of the family. I felt so loved when on their wedding day
Gretchen included me in the group who was there while she was getting dressed
for her wedding. Gretchen’s wedding dress was beautiful, and had sleeves which
could be worn on the shoulder or off the shoulder. Gretchen’s mother, Kate, who had become a
dear friend, suggested that Gretchen wear the sleeves up, but Gretchen wanted
them off shoulder. During that time, strapless wedding gowns were not so
acceptable. Gretchen turned to me and asked what I thought. I was speechless, because I didn’t want to
come between a mother and daughter on her wedding day. My answer was “It’s your wedding day, do what
makes you happy.” She chose to wear the
sleeves off shoulder. She was a
beautiful bride, and the ceremony was breathtaking. One of the sweetest gestures Gretchen made
during the ceremony was to present the mothers with a red rose as a sign of
love. Gretchen also gave me the honor of doing the table decorations at the
wedding reception.
After marriage, the newly-wed
couple started looking for an apartment.
Steve’s dad and I suggested that they invest in a house rather than
rent. They took our advice and found a
nice house in Fredericksburg VA. They
asked us to visit and give them our thoughts on purchasing the house. We agreed that it was a good investment, and
encouraged them to buy it. To this day they still own it, and the rent has
helped with college tuitions for three children. The newly-weds celebrated
their first Christmas in their new home, and they honored us by asking us to
visit them. Gretchen asked me help decorate their first Christmas tree. To this
day, Gretchen still uses some of the ornaments that I made for their first tree. Each time I see them, I remember those happy
days.
As the years went by, Steve’s
father developed cancer and died. By
this time Gretchen had been selected by the Navy to attend the Navy
Postgraduate School in Monterey CA to get her master’s degree.
This was just shortly after
Steve’s father’s death. Because of her
thoughtfulness toward me, Gretchen was going to turn down the opportunity the
Navy was giving her because she felt like they shouldn’t leave me here in
VA. I told her I appreciated her
thoughtfulness, but I would not let her pass up this opportunity.
Their tour in Monterey turned
out to be very memorable because this was where my first grandchild, Cayte, was
born. I was so happy when they told me I
was going to be a grandmother. Cayte was such a beautiful, happy baby, and I
was able to visit them a couple of times while they were in CA.
After graduation from the
school, they were assigned to the Navy base in Norfolk VA. Again, they asked my advice on the purchase
of a home. It was a great home which
they still reside in and have added two more wonderful grandchildren to my
life, Bobby and Julie.
I later remarried a wonderful
man, Cliff, who fit right in with my family.
He loved my family almost as much as I do. He being a retired Air Force officer and her
a Navy officer, they had subjects in common to talk about. Cliff and I moved to
FL, and unfortunately I missed out on a lot of my grandchildren’s younger
years, but Gretchen was always thoughtful to send me pictures and spend their
vacations with us in FL.
Some years later, Cliff
passed away and I moved back to VA.
Steve and Gretchen and her wonderful sister, Patty, encouraged me to
sell my home in Portsmouth VA and move closer to them. Gretchen and Patty found the house for me,
and the whole family moved me into my new home.
The move has been such a blessing for me because it has enabled me to
attend the children’s functions and sports activities at their school. Gretchen always made sure I was aware of each
event, and she always saved a seat for me.
When I turned 70 years old,
Gretchen gave me a surprise birthday party and invited my friends and
neighbors. I don’t know why it surprised
me because she is always thoughtful regarding me. Now that I am about to celebrate my 80
th
birthday, I rely more and more on Gretchen each day. Not only does she fix my
computer when I do stupid things, she insists that I send her an email every
day to let her know how I am doing, and if I go someplace at night, she wants
me to call her and let her know that I am safely at home.
Gretchen insists that she
goes to my doctor’s appointments with me so that I understand what the doctor’s
diagnosis is. My doctor commented that I was very fortunate to have such a
thoughtful daughter-in-law. When I had
surgery a few months back, Gretchen was right there with me at the hospital
making sure all my needs were met. She
brought me home and took care of me until I was healed.
These are just a few of the
instances where Gretchen has shown her love for me. Each day, I thank God for her.
God has blessed me in so many ways, but Gretchen in one of my greatest
blessings. I wish everyone reading this
could be so fortunate.
Y'all, how awesome is that story. My nana is so awesome. I hope everyone has the opportunity to have someone that inspires them to be a better woman like my nana does for me.
