Growing up, both of my parents worked full-time jobs. Since they both had jobs, I had the pleasure of spending my days with an amazing woman who had a huge hand in raising me. Don't get me wrong though, both of my parents were highly involved with my life and they didn't just hand me off to her for her to raise me. She was just simply the best babysitter there is in this world. In fact, she was more than just a babysitter, more like a grandmother to me. To this day I refer to her as "Nana."
When I was eight weeks old, my mom finished her maternity leave and had to return to work. My dad's lifetime best friend's mom had always been in child care and ran a daycare from the comfort of her own home. At some point before my mom completed her maternity leave, one of her friends called her and told her that if she didn't at least consider Nana, Nana's feelings would be hurt. This was a huge answer to my mom's prayers, because the thought of leaving me in a huge commercial daycare scared the life out of her. (And she couldn't convince my dad to let her be a stay at home mom.) So in October 1995, my parents entrusted Nana with the most important thing in their lives, me. From that day on she treated me like one of her very own grandkids, in fact it wasn't until I was 5 or 6 that someone explained to me that Nana was not one of my biological grandmothers. I just thought everyone had three grandmothers! At Nana's house, I met my very first best friend, her name was Kaley, but Kaley is another story for another day.
Nana was so much more than just a "babysitter" she took us everywhere and turned everything into a learning experience. She taught us how to be kind,how to share with one another, fairness, and table manners. She either laid the foundation for what we were going to learn at home or she backed up what we were learning at home. She did it with all love and unbelievable patience.
In my mind, there was nothing that Nana couldn't fix. Scraped knees, hurt feelings, broken toys, you name it, Nana could fix it. One of my favorite stories about a "Nana fix it" was when I was about two years old, I had a really bad ear infection. My parents had been up with me all night trying to soothe me by walking up and down the hall with me about a million times while I cried. I looked up at my mom with big crocodile tears in my eyes and said "I want my nana." (Sorry, Mom!)
Nana came to every event. Dance recitals, birthday parties, soccer games, award ceremonies, and my high school graduation. It didn't matter what it was or when it was, Nana was coming with bells on! There hasn't been a life event that she has missed and rest assured at my wedding, Nana will be seated with the grandmothers with a giant corsage.
So thank you, Nana, for always being there for me and for helping my parents to guide me through life. You've always been one of my biggest cheerleaders and my greatest supporter. Thank you for being my confidant, a shoulder to cry on, and a great source of advice. You are true north on my moral compass. I love you with all my heart.
-Your baby girl
Happy Birthday!
