Missing One of Nana's Girls

 

February 17^th marks three years since Sharon left us to become an Angel in Heaven. I’m sure Nana was there to greet her. The only blessing for me on that day was Nana had gone to Heaven first. For Nana, losing one of her girls would’ve broken her heart. Nana loved her two boys, but there was always a special connection between Nana and Sharon and me.

During the 1970’s, before Sharon had children, Saturdays were shopping days for Nana and Sharon and me. One of our favorite places was going to the Nittany Mall in State College, Pennsylvania. Nana still worked at the Montgomery Mills Factory, making barely $3 an hour. Sharon and I both had full time jobs. But if there was a coat I wanted and I didn’t have the money, it was Nana who helped me pay for it. If Sharon saw a sweater out of her budget, Nana stepped in so she could have it. Even with her low income, Nana was frugal and always made sure she had money to shop with us. Although Nana bought some things for herself, I remember her greatest joy was being the one to make sure we could have what we wanted.

While we were growing up, Nana wasn’t able to give us extras. Sharon and I got a lot of our clothes as donations from well-to-do relatives of my Aunt Elizabeth, Nana’s sister. Opening up the big black garbage bag of hand-me-downs with dresses and blouses and skirts was like a shopping spree. Nana was grateful for the generosity, but it hurt her to take charity. She was doing the best she could feeding four kids on a factory job while my dad used his money for trips to the local bar.

When Nana got divorced and tackled life on her own, she knew she wasn’t totally alone. Not only her girls, but her boys, supported her through car breakdowns, house repairs and unemployment.

In 1993, Sharon and I encouraged Nana to sell her house and move into a second floor, one bedroom apartment outside Montgomery. Nana loved her new home, especially the cozy balcony overlooking corn fields lined with lush trees.

In 1999, we helped Nana make a trip to Austin, Texas for her granddaughter Shelly’s wedding. Nana was returning there for the first time since 1943, when she lived there while Daddy was stationed with the Army at Camp Swift. It thrilled Sharon and I to see Nana visit the places she remembered—the address of the boarding house where she lived (which was now an office building), the grounds of the State Capitol with all its statues, and, most of all, the fields of Texas Blue Bonnets, her favorite flower.  

Diane and Nana and Sharon Austin Texas March 1999

In 2010, at age 86, Nana faced a flurry of health problems. She had four hospitalizations and three back surgeries in one year. Sharon and I were with her as she fought her way back to be home and independent. While in the hospital, she was always anxious for our visits. When we arrived, the nurses would tell us Nana kept saying, “Where are my girls?”

As Nana’s girls, Sharon and I made a pact to keep Nana in her beloved apartment as long as possible. Between us, we coordinated her doctor’s visits, her medications, her supplements and her meals. Nana loved to go and we made sure she got to go out to eat as much as possible. Sharon and I took her to Wendy’s, May’s Drive-In in Hughesville, and for her favorite fish sandwiches at The Fence in Lewisburg. Between my visits to Pennsylvania, Sharon and Nana often did drive-through meals. Something Sharon called car picnics. Nana loved it.

Nana having a car picnic 2016

Nana loved all three of us being together, but she also didn’t mind when Sharon and I got some alone time as sisters. Because we lived at a distance from each other, in-person times for Sharon and I were a special treat for me. It might just be riding along with her to take one of her kitties to the vet. Or sometimes we took a quick trip to the local Tastee-Freeze for an ice cream cone. During those times, we talked constantly. There’s something about a bond with a sister that transcends distance and time.

Even when Nana had to go into Watsontown Nursing Home in 2018, Sharon and I made sure she always had her snacks. M&M’s, KitKats and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. We arranged for her to have her hair washed and set each week, so she felt loved and pretty. Sharon took charge of her laundry and visited almost every day. I called Nana every day and visited several days each month. Nana knew ‘her girls’ were taking care of her.

Diane and Sharon at Watsontown Nursing Home November 2019

When Nana went to Heaven, I remember Sharon and I standing by her casket. I said to Sharon, “We took really good care of Nana.”

She agreed, “Yes we did.”

Because that’s what Nana’s girls did for her.

I hope now Sharon is reunited with Nana in Heaven. I miss them both every day.

Someday Nana and her girls will all be together again, but until then, I’ll savor our special memories together.

Sharon and Nana and Diane February 2020
The last time we were all together in person