Nonnie

Nonnie was my grandmother, my friend, and my hero.

She was always there to confort, cheer, bring a smile.

Her laundry always smelled wonderful.

We would sit on her lap while she read to us forever.

We would play Scrabble, Bobble, Materpiece, while we ate popcorn and drank Pepsi.

We would have graham crackers and milk at bedtime.

Then, we would slide into the softest sheets in the whole wide world, knowing in Nonnie's house we were safe and loved.

I have this image of Nonnie in my mind: The house was always clean, dinner was always ready, the dishes were always done, the laundry was always hung out to dry... and she never did any work.

I'm serious - in all my childhood, I only vaguely remembe seeing Nonnie work, yet everything all seemed to be done. She always had time to read to us, or talk, or come watch us do some neat new trick we'd discovered outside. If someone needed something done, she could go do it, because all her responsibilities at home were long ago taken care of.

Recently I was talking to Mommy about this phenominon, and she was telling me some of the ways Nonnie accomplished this. Apperently routine and efficiency were high on the list. I've tried implementing some of these things in our household, and they same to be working out really well. We still have a long ways to go, but hey, I knew Nonnie after she'd had thirty or forty years practice. Surely only having had three years practice gives me some wiggle room in the excuse department.

My goal in life is to be like Nonnie - sweet, loving, spiritually strong, and with my housework already done so I have time for other, more meaningful things.

P.S. The picture above was of us the day I graduated high school. She had already been sick for a while, and wasn't really able to leave the house, so I went over to show her my gown before heading to graduation. She was always so full of vibrance, it was difficult to see her so sick and worn down, but she never stopped smiling or loving us.