Adventures Of The Heart – Remembering Nana

I read this quote on my cell phone and am hesitant to admit it, but though a writer with notebooks everywhere, I at first thought “who writes letters?” The quote:

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart. – Phyllis Theroux –

That’s my Nana!  She wrote letters.

Oh, how I loved my Nana!  In her presence, especially in our one-on- one visits, I felt beautiful!  I felt wanted!  I felt unconditionally loved! I’m not saying “poor little Martha, nobody else loved her” but simply saying that there was something extra precious about our relationship.

Oh, the stories she told of days long past, of people she’d known, of mischief she’d gotten into . . . honestly, I’m not sure many people ever got to know her as I did.  Maybe, just maybe, she felt beautiful and unconditionally loved and accepted by me as well.  She was, I can tell you that.

She was a “shut-in” much of her life and lived near the church.  I would walk over after Sunday services while Mama and Daddy had coffee hour and while my small sisters played in the church yard.  Sometimes, I’d get to stay the whole afternoon at Nana’s!  I could sit at her feet and listen to her all day.  Her health challenges made her weak but her one room apartment was just enough to manage.  Her diet was restricted but she always had special treats for me and let me just say this.  If I smiled and told Nana I loved grilled cheese with extra cheese . . . well, you’d have a hard time lifting all that gooey, warm and melty cheese!  I still  make ’em that way Nana!

She’d pull out old, old photographs and tell me all about these people who were “family” but had passed on long ago . . . even before Mama was born!  She’d sit in her comfy chair next to the bed and near the closet/kitchen and on a tiny table was pretty note paper and matching envelopes and a tattered address book.  Then there was a damp sponge and postage stamps for  sealing the flap and readying the letters for mailing.

You see, she wrote to EVERYBODY and they wrote back!  Don’t know about you, but a lot of my mail is “junk” mail.  Not my Nana’s mail.  Letters came to her from the postman every day!  Who got married, who had liver trouble, who’s cat had a litter of kittens . . . remember old Aunt Sally? . . . Remember the old days at Rye Beach?  I remember so many stories of people and places I’d never have learned about if I’d not had those delightful visits with Nana.  She passed on long ago and I don’t know what ever happened to the old letters or the tattered address book, but oh, the places we went, she and I!  So many wonderful adventures!  So many people we visited on our adventures of the heart!

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for dropping by today.  I appreciate your company.  Please come again soon!  I’ll be sure and put the kettle on and we’ll have tea!

Very truly yours,

Martha