Every time I see this card I think of our Nannie. Mom lived with Nannie and Papa after her Mom died when she was a teenager. Her Mom and Nannie were sisters. To Mom, they were always "Auntie and Unk!" To us, they were always Nannie and Papa. Mom's Dad had remarried and moved to California. Dad's Mom and Dad were living in New Orleans. Eventually, everyone ended up in St. Louis, but as far as we were concerned, Nannie and Papa were our grandparents.
When Mom and Dad and I returned to the states from England, Dad still had some time to finish up in the Air Force. Mom and I lived with Nannie and Papa. Our closeness and love was beyond special.
As a little girl, I remember sitting with Nannie and listening to her stories.
If I knew then what I know now; I'd have been asking questions every time we were together.
I mostly listened.
Lots has stayed with me.
But, I always remember how she talked about Mom and how much she loved her. I'll never forget the look in her eyes when she told me:
"Any time your Mom went shopping, she would always bring me flowers! She is always so good!"
Today, we are still a family of flowers. We love getting them and giving them. If we couldn't send flowers, we'd send cards with flowers on them.
The card above came this week for me from my sister. It's a card that we always loved as a family.*
Although they're gone, celebrating Mom and Nannie on Mother's Day is always important to me.
We learned from each other, loved each other, and have become the women that we are today because of them.
Happy Mother's Day in heaven to Mom and Nannie, and all the rest!
*The last two photos above are of Mom's Mom, Marie Emme.