If you don't know Nancy, she's my step-grandmother, better known in the grandkid circle as Nannan. She held the honor of being the last grandma I had left. I didn't grow up with her, but we became family when I was a teen. She's been instrumental in my successes for many reasons. I didn't really comprehend how highly she thought of me until I was older. I'll share some memories so you can get to know her, too.
Summer with Nan: Peaches, peaches, peaches.
I'd occasionally spend some time in Grand Junction over my summer breaks. If you know much about her, you know she loved peaches. It was always a treat to have dinner out on their back patio--grilled steak, fresh corn on the cob, iced tea, and fresh peaches for dessert. They had a magical yard full of flowers and birds and critters, and I enjoyed time with their inside critters as well. Many pets ago, Sophie the fluffy orange cat and I were fast friends. Lady, the black lab (if I have the right era dog name, they had multiple labs over the years) enjoyed summer walks and extra pets. I once got a letter from Nancy when I returned home, where she said Lady was "in seventh heaven," and my mother kindly explained that it did NOT mean the dog had died, but it was just that she enjoyed the extra attention while I was there. One of my favorite movies as a kid was All Dogs Go to Heaven, but I thought maybe it had a special number; I didn't know the phrase. I was not keen on the western slope summer humidity, but the trip where she was watching the neighbor's house, and I got to enjoy the pool all to myself, I was the one in summer seventh heaven.
We spent an afternoon once (though I'm not 100% sure it was in the summer) making Whoopie Pies. Those became a big favorite of mine. I could never quite duplicate it, but I do still have her handwritten recipe. My absolute favorite thing she made was her Christmas cookies. I was skeptical at first, as a connoisseur of thick sugar cookies with a hearty amount of frosting. Hers were paper-thin with delicate decorating sugar, and the snowmen had little redhots for noses. She mailed them a couple of times and was always worried they would break, but I always ate the broken ones first, as cookie law requires, and I'd save the snowmen for last. Maybe I didn't care for biting their little heads off? The process was arduous, and I've never even attempted it. I don't think I have the patience. She didn't make them often as she got older and there were fewer big Christmas gatherings but I think of them every year. Maybe someday I'll give them a try. I might have that recipe somewhere as well. I've never had a cookie like it. They have a potato chip quality, in that you just want to keep eating them for the satisfying sweet crunch.
She enjoyed a shopping trip and liked to treat me to some nice clothes or things for school now and then. She was a girl's grandma, for sure! She enjoyed pretty and colorful things. From flowers and birds to fashion and bags. She always found treasures and trinkets, usually something I'd never seen before. She and my husband have very similar tastes in jewelry, actually. I hope she'd approve that many of the items she's gifted me over the years now live in his collection. He wears them much more than I did, so they get to be on display as they deserve.
The last time I saw her was when I graduated with my master's degree in Education in 2023. She was slowing down a bit and appeared more fragile than I remembered, but was still thrilled to be there. There was no question that she was coming to celebrate with us. I didn't do the big graduation thing when I got my bachelor's degree, and she was very excited that I chose to continue my education. She knew it was always a struggle for me. It was with her support that I was able to attend the high school that I did; if you don't know about that, it's one of the most significant reasons I...am. She saw me through from start to finish and was cheering me on the whole way. If I didn't go to that school, I think it is highly unlikely I would be where I am now, and I would not have an advanced degree in Education.
Nancy was generous beyond measure, and she believed in me at every turn. She always liked getting letters and she always wrote back. That was most of our communication over the years. Even though we didn't have the same relationship as I did with my day-one grandmas and were very different, she always treated me like I was important. We should all be so lucky to have someone like that in our lives.
So, go do something Nan might do. Write a letter, wear your favorite colors, sit and watch the birds, make some cookies, get a unique little trinket for someone you love, enjoy a fresh peach (when we get to again), and make sure the people you think are important know that.
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