Nana Turns 93

September 15, 2016. Nana's 93rd birthday. A year before, when she celebrated her 92nd birthday, she was in The Meadows Assisted Living and two weeks from being discharged to go back to living alone in her apartment. Last birthday, it had been over five months since the terrible fall that sent her to the hospital, nursing home and assisted living. A betting person would've never imagined Nana could go home again. But, then, one should never bet against Nana.

It's been a roller coaster year. One that saw a few more falls - no more broken bones thankfully. But the fall in May this year put her in the hospital/nursing home for over a month. (See my blog post from June 2016.) I'll never forget the social worker looking for a vacancy in a nursing home, while Sharon and Cindy, her caregiver, and I fought to get Nana back into her cozy apartment. When she finally got released to go home, she was so weak. But who wouldn't be? Nana was only out of bed for about an hour a day for therapy.

Could she be on her own again? I admit, I wasn't sure. But, what I was sure about was, more than anything, I wanted her to be home. And Sharon wanted her home and Cindy wanted her home and her caring neighbors at Houston Ridge wanted her home. Most of all, Nana wanted to be home. And when Nana wants something, she's determined to get it.

Slowly she got stronger. Stronger with Sharon's frequent visits, regular pill preparation and lots of KFC meals. Stronger with Cindy's daily help with pills and meals and baths and hair setting. Stronger with my monthly visits of four days of TLC. Stronger with deviled eggs delivery from Wayne and Sharon and occasional Sunday meal deliveries from Bill and Marcia. Stronger with the "juice boxes" regularly ordered by Lori.   

I remember in the summer when she wanted to go, by herself, to the gazebo in Houston Ridge to sit with her neighbors and visit. "Out of the question," I thought to myself. "She's not strong enough to do that."  How would she get out the door by herself with her downstairs walker? How would she walk there without taking a rest?  How would she sit on a bench or chair without a cushion?

To my surprise, Nana figured it out. She got out the door by herself. She pushed herself to walk the distance, stopping when she needed to rest. Her kind neighbors lent her cushions and gave her the most comfortable chair. And when she was ready to go back to her apartment, Chuck or John or Bud or any other neighbor there walked her back and helped her in the door. And everyday she walked there, she got stronger from the exercise and happier from the good company.

September 15, 2016. Nana's 93rd birthday. Lots of reasons to celebrate. Nana's home and she's stronger than she's been in a long time. She seems happy most of the time, especially when she gets to go to Wendy's. Most important, she's surrounded by all of us who love and cherish her as we look forward to celebrating her 94th birthday next September.

Nana 93rd Birthday September 2016

Nana in Gazebo Summer 2016

 

Summertime and Strawberry Jam

During my last visit to Nana, I watched her dunk her toast, overflowing with strawberry jam, into her morning cup of coffee. Nowadays, it's Stroehman's white bread and Smucker's Seedless Strawbery Jam. But, my memories of Nana's bread and jam are thick slices of her home-baked bread topped with her homemade strawberry jam. 

With a quartet of hungry kids, Nana's bread and jelly were a staple in our house growing up. Each summer during strawberry season, Nana made a batch of strawberry jam from the succulent fresh berries. She followed the recipe on the SureJell box and produced a sugar crazed delicacy that springs to mind even now. The chunks of strawberries swam in a shiny jell that turned a plain piece of bread into a delectable dessert.

More than likely, the strawberries came from Anstadt's strawberry fields in Allenwood. And, also more than likely, Sharon had picked them. Each strawberry season, Sharon worked at Anstadt's picking strawberries to earn extra money. She was their star employee. Sharon could - and still can - pick strawberries faster than anyone I know. Even though she was only paid pennies per box, Sharon managed to make money. (I tried it several times, but I'm slow, can't handle the sun, and the bugs devour me.) Even today, when I see the "Pick Your Own Strawberries" signs, I think of Sharon.

Before the strawberry season ended, square quart containers of sugar-sweetened berries parked in our upright freezer for more batches of jam in the winter. 

During the years when Nana made her own homemade bread, I'd fight to get the end crust. Brown and crispy on the outside and fluffy and warm on the inside, the crust was the perfect foundation for my butter and jam treat. 

I remember one day, I watched Nana dunk her bread into her coffee. 

"Mommy, can I dunk my bread and jam in your coffee?"

She slid her cracked ceramic cup of coffee - blonde with milk - to my place at the table. I immediately fell in love with the taste of the soggy bread soaked in the slightly bitter coffee, the layer of strawberry jam sweetening the concoction. I wasn't tempted to drink the coffee - just dunk in it. When I was finished, Nana - never one to waste anything - gulped the rest of the coffee with the bits of my strawberry jam swimming in the cup. 

In my adult life, I took over the task of making the Strawberry Jam. I wanted to make sure I did everything the way Nana did. For many years, Nana came to my house during strawberry season and helped me make my fresh batch of jam and helped me prepare the strawberries for the freezer. During the winter, whenever I needed another batch, she supervised and helped stir in the sugar - a critical part of the process. Sadly, after she was diagnosed with diverticulosis, she wasn't allowed to eat the jam because the tiny strawberry seeds could get caught in her colon and cause diverticulitis, an acutely painful ailment. But, that didn't stop her from helping me and watching everyone delight in eating her jam.

As the years passed, SureJell changed their recipe but Nana wouldn't settle for anything but the original. Nana's tattered original recipe from the SureJell box became a priceless gem.   

To preserve the exact recipe for Nana's Strawberry Jam, I took the original SureJell recipe and added Nana's special touches. Now, anyone can make the recipe -  even if someone has to use "store-bought" strawberries. 

This Strawberry Jam Recipe is truly a family heirloom. 

Thank You Nana!

MOM RHONE’S STRAWBERRY JAM RECIPE

Strawberries for jam:

If doing own berries when in season to freeze for jam to be made later:

            Cut in small pieces, sugar lightly and let set until they draw juice.

            Measure 3 cups per container and freeze.

If using “store-bought” frozen strawberries:

            Thaw and crush berries.

To make FULL batch of jam:

            Thaw 6 cups of strawberries(2-3 cup containers of home-frozen berries.)

            Pre-measure 6 cups of sugar

.           Heat the 6 cups berries until boiling, then add 1 box Sure Jell.

            When it comes to FULL boil, boil ONE minute.

            Then add 6 cups of pre-measured sugar

            Keep stirring so sugar does not burn.

            When it comes to a FULL ROLLING BOIL, boil for ONE minute +.

            Remove from burner and put in jars.

            Cool completely before putting lids on jars.

            Keep in refrigerator until used.

To make HALF batch of jam:

            First empty 1 box of Sure Jell into a container and mix well.

            Then measure ½ box of Sure Jell and return ½ to package.

            Follow above instructions except use 3 cups of strawberries,

            ½ box Sure Jell and 3 cups of sugar.

To make FULL batch with FRESH strawberries:

            Clean berries and crush 5 cups of strawberries (DO NOT ADD SUGAR.)

            Same cooking instructions as above except use 7 cups of sugar.

            IMPORTANT NOTE:  Different measurements of sugar and berries for fresh batch

By Diane Rhone

                                Nana with her Smucker's Strawberry Jam
                                 (Thanks to Sharon for taking this picture)

Another Mishap, Another Muncy Stay and More Memories

On May 5th, 2016, Nana fell while getting her Sprite out of the refrigerator. With Sharon visiting Lori in Delaware, Bill and Marcia, Jeff, and Cindy, Nana's caregiver, arrived with the ambulance crew. Nana was up walking around almost immediately so it appeared there was no broken bones, but she had a nasty, bleeding cut on her arm.

The ambulance transported her to Muncy Valley Hospital. When it was confirmed she hadn't suffered any broken bones, they patched up her arm and admitted her to the hospital. Nana's hospital stay lasted until June 4th when she was released to go home after almost a month of rehab.

Nana's doctor in Muncy, Dr. Elangbam, was a strong advocate for us to get her back home. Unlike other health care practitioners that Nana encountered in her previous stays in Muncy Skilled Nursing Unit, Dr. Elangbam knows that seniors always do better in their own home whenever possible.

My May visit with Nana was while she was still in the hospital. During that time, we had lots of time to chat and talk about Nana's memories. I've heard lots of Nana's stories but what amazes me is that I can still learn things I hadn't known before. Like......

Nana's childhood school experience:
When Nana was six years old, she was supposed to start school. At that time, Grandma Tilburg - Nana's mother - had left Pap Tilburg because he regularly got drunk and beat her. Grandma Tilburg, Uncle John and Nana were living in Williamsport with Nana's sisters, Auntie (Elizabeth) and Aunt Grace. The first day of school, Nana cried and cried. She was still very upset about her mom and dad. The school said that she could wait until the next fall to go to school. By that fall, when she was seven, Grandma Tilburg and Pap Tilburg were back together and living outside of Elimsport so Nana started school at Pikes Peak, a rural, one room school house.

Nana's Austin Memories:
Nana loves to talk about her time in Austin in 1943-1944. I thought I'd heard all her experiences but there's some new info here:
Mabel Huckabee, the kind lady who owned the boarding house where Nana stayed while she lived in Texas, had a son to her first marriage. His name was Earl Haskell. He was only 17 years old when Nana moved there but soon was going to be attending the University of Texas. Earl liked to tease Nana - he called her a Yankee - but it was all in fun. Nana was only 19 herself so they were really quite close in age.
Nana's first room at the boarding house was very nice. She said it even had a door. But soon after she arrived, a Captain and his wife needed a room and Nana was moved to a room at the front of the house. It wasn't a separate room - just divided from the house by a folding screen. On Saturday nights, Mabel often housed soldiers. Sometimes these soldiers wanted to go in Nana's room and "sleep" with her. When that happened, Nana called Mabel and she always came to Nana's rescue and chased them away.
While Nana was at the boarding house, she paid Mabel so she could eat her main meal there. Everyone ate together, sitting at big tables. Nana remembers that at Christmas, when, of course, she couldn't be home with her family, Mabel invited Nana to eat with her and her family.
Mabel's husband - Nana just knew him as Mr. Huckabee - was a kind man who she thought worked at an office job. He was too old to be in the service. Nana normally walked to work everyday at her job at Steck's Publishing, located close to the Texas Capitol Building. But one day it was pouring down raining and Mr. Huckabee drove her to work.
In back of Mabel's boarding house were two apartments above a garage. Nana remembered the two couples who lived there. One was Mary and Matt Chrillia (phonetic spelling). They were from Pittsburgh, PA and had a baby just before Nana left. The other couple was Margaret and Harry Dillon from Ohio. Per Nana, they were an older couple. I'm so amazed at the details she remembers after 73 years.

Nana's job at Montgomery Mills:
Nana talked about going to work at Montgomery Mills in the ball spinning department. When she started, she was paid 75cents an hour to spin wispy rayon thread on tiny wooden balls. To start the thread on the ball, she had to use glue which I'm sure was toxic to breathe. Just to meet production goals, she had to complete 13 gross a day. At 144 balls per gross, that's almost 2000 balls per day! She remembered her boss, Kate Grady, pounding her fist on the table, demanding her to produce more and more. By the time her job was eliminated, she earned less than $3 per hour.

Everyday, I'm  grateful for Nana -  for her memories, for making it out of Muncy one more time, and for her presence in my life.

Nana and Sharon and Diane - Muncy Valley Hosp May 2016

                               

For Nana, April Showers bring thoughts of Austin Flowers

As spring emerges, Nana thinks back to April 1943. Seventy three years ago she took a train for three days and three nights to arrive in Austin, Texas. Daddy was already there, stationed with the Army at Fort Swift. Nana made the trip alone - with only $30 in her pocket.

One of Nana's fondest memories of that trip was seeing the Texas Bluebonnets splashed across the fields outside her train window. On one of our recent morning conversations, she re-lived that memory.

 "I was only nineteen years old. I'd never been away from home."

Even she seemed in awe of the courage of her young adult self.  Although I've heard her Austin story many times, I never tire of it. I can't imagine how she mustered the gumption to make that trip alone. Not only leaving her family in backwoods Elimsport, but traveling solo across the country. During those three days she had to change trains several times in new places, counting on the help of strangers to find her way. All the while, she had no idea what lay ahead for her in the city of Austin. And yet, even at 92, that trip is still one of her fondest memories. I heard sadness in her voice as she reminisced.

"I did all that for him (Daddy) and look how he treated me."

It's true. Looking back, Nana made a monumental sacrifice. And yet, the time she spent living in Austin, Texas, turned out to be the best memory of her 25 year marriage to Daddy. I've often wondered, was it the World War II combat time in Italy that changed her handsome soldier into an alcoholic adulterer? Or, was he not as he seemed when she fell in love with him at Holmes Dance Hall? Although we'll never know that, I encouraged Nana to look at the bright side.

"But, through all that, you got four great kids. And you got the chance to see Austin." I said.

"Yes, that's true and I even got to see San Antonio. I took the bus there because I wanted to see the Alamo. In fact, I went twice - by myself." She said. "Oh, yes. I couldn't leave Texas without seeing the Alamo."

"I'm so glad I  got the chance to visit those places with you in 1999.  Remember, you and I even went back again the next year!" Those trips are some of my fondest memories.

"I wish I could go back again. But I probably can't." She sighed with a wistful sadness in her voice.

"Maybe you can. If you eat and get strong, there's no reason we can't take another trip there."

I truly believe she could go again. The courage of that nineteen year old girl still lives in Nana's 92 year old body. I know it.

I would love to take her back one more time. To see Austin, to see San Antonio, to see the Alamo and to see the fields of Bluebonnets in April.  

 

Field of Texas Bluebonnets

 

Stanley and Deanie Rhone Austin, Texas 1943

The Alamo, San Antonio Texas

Nana and Diane March 2000