It was 5 years ago today that my Nanie went to be with the Lord after battling pancreatic cancer. Since I grew up living 10 minutes away from her, she would often pick us up from school, or let us spend the night at her house, or we would just stop by to say hey. She was one of my favorite people ever and I miss her, but I am so thankful to God for the 27ish years I had her in my life. I thought I would write down a few of the things I just loved about her.
-She loved people. She was always the first to welcome someone and make them feel loved. She did it with her warm smile and by taking an interest in them.
-She loved shoes. All shoes.
-She also loved to go shopping.
-Nanie loved fruit, yogurts, Raisin Bran and Wendy's Frosty's...just to name a few.
-I remember her giving me a friendly lecture when I was a teenager about how I needed to drink more water (and like it!). She would be glad to know that it is basically all I drink now.
-If you couldn't find her at home, she was probably at Ingles or Belk's.
-She was VERY active. She died at 82 years old, but she didn't look it and she definitely didn't act it. She went to an aerobics class or walked most every day of the week.
-She loved to travel. She was always planning her next big trip with her group of girlfriends or with family.
-She was a very big Weight Watchers fan. She was a life time member and would have been happy to tell you about why you should be too. I've done WW after I had each of my babies to get the baby weight off and I always though of her.
-She was very active in her church and it seemed like she was always going to one meeting or another.
-She loved the Lord and she wanted her grandchildren to too. I remember sitting on her couch one night and her reading me the whole book of Ruth.
-She liked to talk theology. She had lots of thoughts and opinions and enjoyed talking them through, especially with Bert.
-Speaking of Bert, she made him feel so loved from the minute I introduced him to her. He loved her too.
-She loved to bake. She baked pound cakes ALL THE TIME. She would often cut them in half and take half to one person and half to another.
-She was kind and compassionate. She would visit people, bake for people, make calls to check on people. She just loved people well.
-She also loved to please people. She would often make/buy our favorite foods when she knew her grandchildren were coming.
-She had such a great sense of humor, which made Nanie just fun to talk to.
-She was a great listener.
-She liked to take "cat" naps. 20 minute nap and she was good to go.
-She was very good with the sewing machine.
-She loved movies. Romantic comedies were her favorites. I love movies too, so we watched so many movies together. I would call her from the movie store to ask her which movie she wanted and she would always say she didn't care....she was good with anything. When I walked in the door with the movie, she would hand me a couple dollars to cover the movie. She would not hear about me paying for the movie myself.
The picture below of me and Nanie was taken in August of 2007 at my friend Misty's wedding (just 3 months before I married Bert).
After I graduated from The University of Tennessee with my Masters I moved back to Toccoa to work as the office manager at my dad's car dealership. I loved that job and I loved being near my family. I worked there for about 1 1/2 years before I met Bert, got married, and moved to be with him. During that time I felt like I got so much closer to Nanie. Her house was only about a 5 minute drive from work and about 3 or 4 days a week I would go over to her house and have lunch with her. It was such a special time. I just loved being with her. We would both have a sandwich and just talk for about 45 minutes. She never put pressure on me if I wasn't able to make it to lunch for whatever reason, but I know she looked forward to me coming. She always greeted me by saying "There's my sweet girl." Or if she was on the phone with a friend (this was often...she loved the phone...just not the cell phone) she would say "I've got to now...my Stephanie's here." She knew how to make you feel loved. She valued spending quality time with people. I'm so thankful for my relationship and my friendship with her, for all that I learned from her. I pray that I will love God, love people and love life like she did. :)
