Today my Nan passed away. Nan was the 2nd wife to my great-grandfather, so my step great-grandmother. This isn't necessarily an entry that would interest anyone just an opportunity to reminisce.
Nan was always a very sweet and caring person. You would have to be to put up with the stubbornness of my great-grandfather. Her memory was better than most, she was amazing that way.
When I was a teenager I started to collect stamps. Well Nan found out, and she was quite a pack rat. Her father owned a business for a long time and should took off a lot of the stamps from all the business' correspondence and gave them to me. I still have them to this day.
At the age of about 12 or so my family went for a Mathieu family reunion in South Dakota. I really enjoyed going to their home is Custer. We played horse shoes, went to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Mountain. It is a very fond memory.
Nan was always a great letter writer and I love to write letters. I like to send and receive something personal. There is nothing like receiving a letter in the mail. Anyway she would send me stamps, recipes and all kinds of interesting things, and she had the most interesting penmanship that I have ever seen, and quite difficult to read, but I got used to it. Through our letter writing I invited them to come to my High School graduation. Much to my surprise and delight they came, along with my Grandma and Grandpa Rickson. Gatherings like that didn't happen very often and they certainly can't now. It was precious.
So since I would now be entering college my Grandad and Nan gave me an old typewriter, and when I say old it was probably from the 1940's. Nan figured I could use it to type my papers for school. Of course I was grateful for the gift but I used a computer to type my papers instead.
When David and I got married they were unable to attend for health reasons. They did however send a gift. It was the most memorable gift that we received. It was an orange and green shiny platter straight out of the seventies and as ugly as can be. I still have it because I think it is precious and she probably thought I would love it.
On every birthday you could always count on a card from Grandad and Nan and you always knew what you were getting. She would get a crisp dollar bill for every year of your life, so when you turned fifteen you got fifteen brand new crisp one dollar bills. You almost didn't want to spend them they were so perfect. The unfortunate thing was that the dollar bills ended when you turn 18, when you really start to need the money.
The packages or cards that Grandad and Nan would send always had a distinct scent, old and smoky. I don't think you could ever get the scent out.
When Alexis was born she was born on Nan's birthday, February 2nd. So they were birthday buddies. She sent Alexis a little pink teddy bear that Alexis still has, in her note she stated "every little girl should have a pink teddy bear." I know she meant it and put thought into that gift.
Another remarkable thing about Nan was her interest in family history work. She spent a lot of time searching out her ancestry. I wonder why that intrigued her so much.
The last time that I saw Nan was last April when we got together for a 5 generation picture at my Grandma's house in Phoenix. It was short and sweet, as their visits usually were. Nan was as kind and considerate as she always has been. I will always have fond memories of her and pray that she has found peace and rest as she has gone on to the other side.
Nan was always a very sweet and caring person. You would have to be to put up with the stubbornness of my great-grandfather. Her memory was better than most, she was amazing that way.
When I was a teenager I started to collect stamps. Well Nan found out, and she was quite a pack rat. Her father owned a business for a long time and should took off a lot of the stamps from all the business' correspondence and gave them to me. I still have them to this day.
At the age of about 12 or so my family went for a Mathieu family reunion in South Dakota. I really enjoyed going to their home is Custer. We played horse shoes, went to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Mountain. It is a very fond memory.
Nan was always a great letter writer and I love to write letters. I like to send and receive something personal. There is nothing like receiving a letter in the mail. Anyway she would send me stamps, recipes and all kinds of interesting things, and she had the most interesting penmanship that I have ever seen, and quite difficult to read, but I got used to it. Through our letter writing I invited them to come to my High School graduation. Much to my surprise and delight they came, along with my Grandma and Grandpa Rickson. Gatherings like that didn't happen very often and they certainly can't now. It was precious.
So since I would now be entering college my Grandad and Nan gave me an old typewriter, and when I say old it was probably from the 1940's. Nan figured I could use it to type my papers for school. Of course I was grateful for the gift but I used a computer to type my papers instead.
When David and I got married they were unable to attend for health reasons. They did however send a gift. It was the most memorable gift that we received. It was an orange and green shiny platter straight out of the seventies and as ugly as can be. I still have it because I think it is precious and she probably thought I would love it.
On every birthday you could always count on a card from Grandad and Nan and you always knew what you were getting. She would get a crisp dollar bill for every year of your life, so when you turned fifteen you got fifteen brand new crisp one dollar bills. You almost didn't want to spend them they were so perfect. The unfortunate thing was that the dollar bills ended when you turn 18, when you really start to need the money.
The packages or cards that Grandad and Nan would send always had a distinct scent, old and smoky. I don't think you could ever get the scent out.
When Alexis was born she was born on Nan's birthday, February 2nd. So they were birthday buddies. She sent Alexis a little pink teddy bear that Alexis still has, in her note she stated "every little girl should have a pink teddy bear." I know she meant it and put thought into that gift.
Another remarkable thing about Nan was her interest in family history work. She spent a lot of time searching out her ancestry. I wonder why that intrigued her so much.
The last time that I saw Nan was last April when we got together for a 5 generation picture at my Grandma's house in Phoenix. It was short and sweet, as their visits usually were. Nan was as kind and considerate as she always has been. I will always have fond memories of her and pray that she has found peace and rest as she has gone on to the other side.
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