When Your Nana is Your Best Friend
This post was published on September 6, 2017 on my old blog, samplesizedwriting.wordpress.com
Summer has come and gone, and with it the many days and nights working at Putt U Miniature Golf, the fun adventures with friends from home, and the super cool, super fun vacation I took to Savannah, GA. I have also completely ignored updating this blog for the better part of three months but hey, life gets busy (and my brain needed some rest).
I have officially settled back in at SU for my sophomore year of college, and once I moved in it felt like I never really left. (That's how you can tell you picked the right university!) However, while I was packing up for school again the person I was most upset about leaving was my Nana.
Now, most grandkids are usually fond of their grandparents, but I am not "most grandkids." I have been blessed enough to live across the street from my Nana and Poppy my entire life. They were my babysitters when I was small, I would always stop in after school, and many summer nights were spent eating ice cream on their patio and playing cards with my family.
As I got older, Nana became my confidant, counselor, and advisor. Any problem I had, whether it was related to school, work, or personal life she'd hear about. We'd have long talks over cups of tea where she'd hear about some class I was struggling with or what friends were having difficulties with each other or what boy I was crushing on at the time, and, when she thought it appropriate, would interject her opinion or take on the matter at hand. She also became very familiar with my high school friends, who would sometimes appear to be more excited to see my Nana than they would be to hang out with me (I can't even blame them, she's a lovely lady). They all would hug her and call her Nana just like all her legitimate grandchildren do, and she'd always ask how my friends were if she hadn't seen them in a while.
During my senior year of high school, I continued to go to my Nana's almost every single day after school, but between hearing about prom plans and graduation and any problems I was having with my boyfriend at the time, we both realized that the days we could have regular catch-up sessions were quickly coming to an end, what with my heading off to Syracuse University that fall. 204 miles away is quite a leap to take after being merely yards away from each other at any given time.
That summer, I spent loads of time with Nana. She'd always say, "We don't have all that long left to do this," and I quickly went from saying, "Oh Nan, I'm not leaving for months!" to "Well, we have until the end of the week..." Don't get me wrong, I love my entire family (pets included), but the goodbye to Nana before leaving for college for the first time was incredibly tough, probably more difficult than any of the other goodbyes.
Once I settled into my freshman year, I also settled into a schedule of calling Nana at least once a week to catch her up on my life in Syracuse. Through these regular phone calls, she became familiar with my class schedules, the friends I'd been making, any boys I'd been interested in, and just the basic day-to-day life of a college student.
When I'd come home for any length of time, Nana would be thrilled. My mother would honestly make fun of how excited she'd be for me coming home, but I never minded. It just proved that Nana loved spending time with me as much as I loved spending time with her. She practically counted down the days until summer break started up, and when I came home in May she was ecstatic because I was going to be home for three whole months.
I was incredibly busy this summer, working almost as much as I could to earn money as well as trying to balance a social life with my friends from home, but whenever I had time to visit Nana, I did. My mom said that she was surprised Nana didn't get sick of me, but almost every night I was home Nan would call and ask if I would come over for a cup of tea and to play cards, and almost every night, I went.
As summer came to a close, I tried to spend as much time with Nana as I could, and I know she appreciated it. I did, too. She got sad as my departure date for SU drew nearer and nearer, and even though I was super excited to go back to school and continue my life as a "responsible, independent adult," I got sad too.
I was not nearly as emotional leaving my family the second time around, but saying goodbye to my Nana got me crying. When the goodbye to her was the only one that really made me upset, I realized just how much I love her and how much I cherish having her, not only as an amazing grandmother, but also as a friend.
My Nana's in her eighties, and while I hate hate hate to think about it, and pretty much refuse to because even the idea of not having her around makes me cry, I really don't know how much time I have left with her. She's healthy and happy, so hopefully I still have years and years left, but you never know. I want her to be there for my college graduation and for my wedding and for any other major milestone in my life, but since I don't know how long I'll still have her with me, I try and cherish any time we spend together at all and take in as much of it as I can.
I'll be calling Nana at least once every week and you can bet that I'll be spending as much time as I can with her once I'm home again because sure, she's my Nana, but she's also my best friend. She stands by me through thick and thin, listens to all my thoughts and opinions and ramblings about my life, makes me laugh, and loves me more than I can probably comprehend. If I can be even 1/4 as good and sweet and loving a person as she is, I'll be on the right track. And just in time for Grandparents Day this weekend, I figured I'd give my Nana a chance to see how much my relationship with her matters to me.
SO, this ends my sappy little post about my grandmother. If you made it to the end, congratulations. If just one reader can finish this and maybe have the desire to call their grandmother and tell them they love and appreciate them, then I've done my job. And Nana, if you read this or have someone read this to you, I love you lots, and I miss you as much as you miss me.