When Nana was 87 years old, I began to realize that the stories she’d told all of us for years about events in her life needed to be recorded. Since the 1970’s, Nana had written every day in what she called her diary so writing was second nature to her. I asked her to write down her stories and I would transcribe them, store them in my computer and print out copies for family members and her Pastor, Mike Hill. Nana was also a big fan of rhyming so she wrote some of the stories as poems.

During Nana’s Celebration of Life, I displayed the book of stories and poems that Nana wrote over the course of three years, 2010 to 2013. Those stories were of great interest to everyone who attended.

Now I’m publishing Nana’s stories – written in her own words – here in my Nana News Blog. Since there’s over 20, I’ll be doing several per post. I’ll present them in the order Nana wrote them. I hope everyone enjoys reading them. They’re a beautiful reminder of the unique and special person Nana was in our lives.

The first story was written in October 2010. During this time, Nana was driving to the Montgomery Diner every day for breakfast. The building that housed that diner is no longer there. It was not far from the Montgomery Weis Store, another one of Nana’s frequent stops. Here’s Nana’s poem about The Diner:

The Diner

By Deanie Rhone

I have been retired for quite a while

To just sit at home is not my style

Each day up the road I go

I just take it nice and slow

To the Diner for a pancake

Wow, now I am wide awake

Everyone there is so good to me

I have my own table as everyone can see

The girls that work there have me spoiled

It’s the most friendly place in all of the world

The same guys come in every day

At the counter and chat, each has his own say

A cup of coffee is ordered by most of us there

That’s the words I can hear everywhere

When leaving out-the-door we all say

See you tomorrow and then be on our way

October 2010

That same month, I had an encounter with a mouse in Nana’s apartment during my monthly visit. Don’t ask how a mouse got into Nana’s second floor apartment, but he was scurrying around Nana’s living room where I slept on a daybed. The mouse was enjoying munching on the pretzels and snacks Nana kept by her chair. I’m not a fan of mice so it was a big deal for me to get rid of this intruder! Plus, I didn’t want a mouse living with Nana after I left. Here’s how Nana described, in poem form, our experience with the mouse:

The Mouse

By Deanie Rhone

Early one morning into my house

There came a fast running mouse

My daughter from Virginia was sleeping sound

Then the mouse started running round and round

After 6 hours driving she needed to sleep

But that mouse continued to squeak and squeak

Through the early morning of the next day

After trap was set to get it out of the way

At 4 AM there was a noise we wanted to hear

The click of the trap Diane heard loud and clear

At daybreak with trap in bucket out in the morning breeze

Diane left the mouse to it’s freedom out among the trees

October 2010

This story was about a map Nana’s granddaughter Rebecca Rhone gave to her describing a trip Rebecca had taken:

Rebecca’s Road Trip

By Deanie Rhone

The map Rebecca gave me

On Sunday I took to my family to see

From Mansfield she went to explore

To Methodist Church and then much more

To shop at Arnot NY mall

To Corning Wendy’s for lunch and that’s not all

Back to Mansfield and made this map for me

65 Sherwood Drive #18 on map for all to see

Thanks Rebecca from Grammy Rhone

October, 2010

This next story Nana didn’t write herself but instead told me so I could write it for her. As you’ll see from future stories, Nana’s memories of World War II and Austin, Texas are among her favorite topics! (Note: I personally have called Nana Mommy all my life!)

Austin and Daddy going to Bivouac

Shortly before Daddy was sent to Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri, he was sent for several weeks to Louisiana to participate in a bivouac. Daddy told Mommy it was horrible. They were out in the woods with no protection and there were wild hogs there. This was in January or February of 1944.

In Austin, Mommy worked at Steck’s Publishing Company. Her job was in the shipping department. She wrapped packs of letterhead to be shipped. When Daddy went to LA for bivouac, the lady who ran the boarding house where she stayed convinced Mommy to just stay there in Austin till she knew where Daddy was going to go next. (Mommy had originally been going to go back home.) Mabel was a nurse, who, in addition to running the boarding house, also ran a nurse’s registry. She set up nurses for anyone who needed them. She also helped people find any kind of help. That is how the request came in for someone to babysit for an officer and Mommy went to do that.

Mommy walked to work every day at the Publishing Company. One day when it was raining very hard, Mr. Huckabee (Mabel’s husband) arranged for Mommy to get a ride with some other workers so she did not have to walk in the rain.

Mommy also remembers that there was an ice cream shop on Congress Avenue. When Daddy was with her on the weekends they would go to get ice cream there. She said they would get big banana splits.

Told to me, Diane Rhone, by Deanie Rhone, October, 2010

Check out this site to see what the bivouac site may have looked like when my dad was there:

https://www.ww2online.org/image/soldiers-bivouac-new-orleans-louisiana-14-july-1943

Here's a few pictures about the above stories: