Favorite

 Almost all mothers will not admit it, they have a favorite child. It was not me. You will figure it out as the blog goes along. If you are an only child it is easy. If you are a part of twins, triplets or more it is the one that sleeps the most. Yes, Nan had a favorite, out of 11 nieces and nephews she also had a favorite.

She was a major player in the childhood memories of "E". The more dominant memories of the two together is in 1980 when they were room mates in New York City. "E" needed help with rent, with Nan happily obliging when she was in town 6 months a year. They shared a one bedroom apartment, Nan was the nurse and work graveyard shift, everyone hated that shift except Nan. The sheets would barely cool from "E"'s exit and Nan taking her place under the blankets after her long shift. 

Nan knew "E' with all of her dates, her friends, her high and low moments for a  single lady barely making ends meet. The difference in age was 30. How could they see eye to eye with this gap in age. Nan never interfered, she just listened no advice given, observed one of her dates had white hair and was 25. "E"'s mother was Nan's sister. There was a hush when her sister asked what was it like to live with my daughter. No details revealed, the secrets of the private life of "E" were never spoken. One thing Nan and "E" had in common they could find humor in a crack in the sidewalk, a city bus marked "Not In Service", a windy rainy day with umbrellas turning inside out. In retrospect, "E" wonders now why she did not ask about "the good old days" when they had their weekly dinners. Nan was good at dodging questions from previous years so the subjects were never approached.

Single in New York City brought many social, educational, athletic events. She was a runner with her best time of 3 hours 42 minutes and 15 seconds for the New York Marathon. Nan was her biggest cheerleader, being at the start line, somehow managing mile 23 also. The after parties for the running club were weekly with one question asked every time - "Where is Nan?" The exploits and adventures were  often with people joining them on the subway, cross town transit buses, sometimes taxis.

The best part of getting off work at 7 A.M. Nan would walk to Central Park, get in line for tickets to Shakespeare in the park, open-air Philharmonic or Opera performances. Time was not an issue, Nan could stand and sleep in the same spot until someone tapped her on the shoulder for her turn to move - literally hours for these treasured tickets. Nan handed them out to "E"'s friends, she was considered a celebrity. Everyone of "E"'s friends had day jobs so they depended on Nan. Somehow she would procure the front row seats of these performances. That is a mystery to this day. Years past and the dynamic duo ceased to exist when "E" moved to the suburbs ending the room mate run.

Nan was there to assist "E" with flowers for her wedding. arriving just in time to assist in the birth of her daughter at home. She had additional children with Nan showering them with gifts and cards on special occasions. Memories live on, she is missed every day.

Whisper to Me!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overload

 As Nan was getting a divorce from a 25 year marriage of physical, mental and verbal abuse she never dreamed things could get worse. She moved into a two bedroom apartment from a 14 room home with the two remaining children under 16. There was a little child support from her ex-husband, a $2 an hour job to meet her new commitments. The youngest child, a girl, would get dressed walk to school, then not go in to her room, she was 12. Every other day the school would call the apartment and quiz Nan on the whereabouts of her child. She was in the grasp of a pimp dealing her out for $2 a trick. Nan discovered this horrendous situation and immediately sent her to live in Seattle with her older brother, his wife and son. By this time she was 13 and pregnant. Nan paid for the abortion, scraping together extra money for medical care, food also a little something to help pay for food and lodging in Seattle. The Pimp found out where she was shipped off to and went to bring her back to his slu...
Read more

Runaway

 We headed to the Jersey shore to share a weekly rental with friends. There were 11 children in the station wagon and Nan. There were no seatbelt mandates in 1954. It was not until 1964 they were in American cars. It is 85 miles to Ocean City, New Jersey from our home. Roadside rest areas were few and far between. We played "I Spy" and other car games for the two hour drive. We pulled up to the beach at 10am and rushed with our towels to the edge of the water. Within two minutes we were all called back to the car to help carry chairs, umbrellas, snacks, drinks, floats and boards to our spot. Every child over 7 had the responsibility of attaching themselves to a child under 7.  I had it easy, Richard fell asleep in the car and was ready to play in the surf. He was 3 1/2 years old and very rarely left my side. It was two o'clock and that was time to head to the boardwalk for the afternoon ice cream cone. We held hands, avoided the sea gulls, and sang "I am a little tea...
Read more

Do It

 We are responsible for our own actions. There was no sugar coating what we needed to do to fulfill our programs we advocated for in daily activities. I chose to be a girl scout, to be a part of a group, laugh and giggle while making new friends. At home Nan gave us chores every week, she did not nag us to do them we knew that we owned it and it make her life less hectic if just gave a little help from time to time. Our girl scout troop wanted each girl to sell 50 boxes. I could have gone to my aunts, uncles, neighbors and family friends. That was the easy way out. Nan got a card table, one chair, 50 boxes of cookies and a cardboard sign with a green shamrock on it. We drove to a busy corner in the middle of downtown of our small community. She dropped me off with the table, chair, sign, cookies and $5 in quarters. In those days a box of girl scout cookies were $.75. She knew I would need change. I put on a uniform, hat and sash before I entered the car. I shouted,"Cookies, come a...
Read more