Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Nan will be forever in our hearts and an inspiration to us all to be a better person. She taught us how to love unconditionally, without hatred in our hearts, to live in the moment, to welcome everyone with open hearts and arms.
She lived in B.C. with our family for a short time but long enough for me to get to know her and love her immensely. Growing up I would hear stories of how she loved to knit and bake. But to see it in action was the best thing ever.
Sitting in her rocking chair with a bag of yarn beside her knitting away with a smile on her face listening to family chatter while chiming in with her witty comments or chuckling softly, always warmed my heart.
And when she wasn't knitting you could easily find her in the kitchen baking up a storm. My favorite (and there are too many to list) was her whoopie pies, cinnamon rolls and her world famous fruitcake.
She had some food restrictions in her diet but she would often cast caution to the wind and just let herself indulge anyways. She would say she paid the price for it the next day but she never regretted it. She would always had to have a bun or potatoes on her plate. She truly knew how to enjoy the simple things in life.
I would always tell my daughters that she is like the Queen of all Grandmas. She would always put other people's needs before her own. Her heart was so big, she had enough love to give and then some. She treated everyone she met like family.
I loved it whenever one of the kids in the family sneezed. She would say with a sweet smile and a chuckle, "Oh, Bless your little heart!" Even when she left to go back to Newfoundland I could still hear her say those words whenever a child sneezed. Or if she didn't like a story she was hearing, she would say, "Oh for Heaven's sake!" and cluck her tongue in disbelief.
I know she is smiling down on all of us, still loving and praying for all of us. With all the praying she did throughout her life, I wouldn't doubt she's been appointed as one of the top angels in heaven.
In our last conversation she said to me, "Don't worry about me. I'm doing just fine. I will never forget you."
Nan, I will always love you and I will never forget you either. It was a pleasure and a privilege to know and love you.
Love Marsha, Len, Aliyah and Kiana
