In 1986, Grace's brother Reg scribbled a letter to her on a scrap of paper in honour of her 70th birthday. She treasured that letter and ended up typing out its contents to share with me about 14 years later to remind me to always tell those I love how I feel.
He wrote:
"Seventy years ago, they, Tom and Rose, named her "Grace". They could not possibly have known at that time that this tiny, squacking, bundle of humanity with the great brown eyes would some day be the very embodiment of the word "Grace".
Nor would they have forseen the gargantuan obstacles this daughter would have to circumvent to become the graceful lady, wife, and mother she would some day be.
I am quite sure, that we, her brothers and sisters, would never know how high were the mountains she had to climb to learn to live with her speech problem, but she climbed them.
With a lot of help from her wise and loving father who, many, many nights walked up and down the yard with her in his arms, she evolved from a scared little kid who was terrified of the dark, into a very competent mother, homemaker, writer, grandmother, and wife.
I love you Grace and hope to live long enough to see you become the great grandmother of a little brown-eyed girl called - yes - "Grace".
Happy Birthday Little Sister"
Like her brother Reg, I admired my Nana's persistence in overcoming the obstacles in her life and her homemaking skills. I also always admired her intelligence, her willingness to travel and try new things and her baking (oh how I miss her baking).
Nana was a math whiz. It was my Nana who taught me to play cards, especially gin rummy, and to do math in my head. She could add up the points in a game or figure out the price per pound of any item in the grocery store in a heartbeat and expected me to do the same. Not surprisingly, not only do I still love card games, I've passed that love onto my children too! I am so sorry that they never got the chance to play gin rummy with such a formidable opponent! No mercy cheating to let the grandkids win there!
When I was little and we visited Nana in BC, I was always fascinated to watch her run her household. Everything was always so organized. All the things I took for granted when my own mother did them took on a certain magic when Nana did them. From her I learned to write out birthday cards ahead and keep them some place conspicuous with the date written under where the stamp will go so you never forget an important event. I learned to send a note or a card just to let someone know I was thinking of them. I always got a big smile to see her type-written notes arrive in my mailbox out of the blue. From Nana I learned how to read the sale flyers and cut coupons and to this day I can't buy bananas without thinking of her horror of buying bananas that cost more than 19 cents a pound.
Nana loved to travel and as long as she was able she was travelling the world with her friends and RVing with Papa. I remember her going to Hong Kong with a friend. I must have been a teenager. I remember thinking how brave it was to go so far and how wonderful to see so many new things. When I went away to go to university in France for a year I barely felt nervous - if my Nana could do it, so could I.
And I'm sure it was my Nana who turned me into a dog lover. Big dogs, little dogs, pretty much any canine! As long as I ever knew her she's always had a dog and been a loving and devoted dog owner. I loved walking the dog with her every day when I visited and I know how much joy Ebony brought her in her last days too. Even when she stopped responding to the rest of us, she still always had a smile for her beloved pup. I'm so pleased that she got so much joy from her.
Not only did Nana overcome her stutter and her fear of the dark, she lived through the loss of her first husband, Frank, and of her daughter, Wendy. Those losses wounded her so deeply and yet she kept on keeping on every day…
And while Nana never did get a namesake great-granddaughter, she did live to see 2 great-granddaughters and 2 great-grandsons enter the world with one more great-grandbaby on the way (not from me!). She was so proud when my oldest was born and drove me crazy calling my Teagan "her baby" with such pride. She wanted great things for all of her great-grandchildren. I hope they'll live up to her expectations.
When Nana proudly shared the letter her brother wrote her, she told me it took 70 years for her to know how much he loved her. I hope she always knew how much I loved her and that all the things her brother admired in her, I did too.
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