Nanie's 90th Birthday

We celebrated Nanie's (Helen King) 90th birthday on April 22, 2012.  We joined her for church at FPC...17 family members in attendance!  The choir sang a surprise Happy Birthday to her and she got to be the greeter that day.  Sylvie was a doll in church and went quite willingly to the nursery after the children's moment (which she did not participate in).  I had a coughing fit in the middle of service and didn't get to hear the sermon since you can't just can't trust the plague...once it starts, it often doesn't stop.  I meandered into the nursery during my choke-capade and saw Sylvie having a tea party with Mr. Mount, the retired shop teacher and luckily, grandfather of four.  He even took her to the potty.  I am so proud that my little girl is so sweet and trusting and willing to play with whomever happened to draw the short straw for nursery duty.

After church we headed to Nana & Papa's for lunch by the pool.  We had an amazing lunch, beautiful birdhouse birthday cake, presents and memories of our sweet Nanie.  The general consensus was that we all feel so blessed to have such a vibrant, healthy and happy Nanie even at 90 years of age.  We also determined that Vicks vapor rub is the secret to longevity, FYI.  Here's what I wrote in honor of Nanie:

My favorite thing about Nanie is that she took me in as her own from the very beginning.  I am not fortunate enough to have grandparents anymore, so I quickly snatched her up as my grandmother as soon as I knew she liked me.  Moving to Andalusia was a big change for me and at first, sometimes Nanie was one of my only friends.  But she made sure I had plans and met people…she’s the best “introducer” I know.  She also always kept me filled in on the gentle town gossip that helped me assimilate and understand who was related to who around here, where to shop, where not to eat, where to get different goodies and where to get things fixed, etc.

I don’t know about anyone else, but this woman cracks me up all the time.  I love her phone messages, her abrupt and concise phone calls, her southern idiosyncrasies and her genteel charm.  I can’t get over the fact that her mother’s name is Buena Vista.  I love that she knows her limits and respects her age.  I love that she has a valid opinion about everything that goes on around her and the fact that she can use email better than most half her age.  I love her traditions that she hasn’t renounced after all these years, like pulling out holiday decorations, going to the beach only during special days of the year, keeping detailed calendars, taking family pictures and planting different flowers on certain days of the year.  I love that when I have a domestic question, Parrish immediately says, “Call Nanie, she’ll know what to do.”

 I love how much she loves her family and her pride in us, no matter if we’ve let her down the week before.  She is so proud of us all the time.  I love that she knows the real meaning of family, even when most of the world has forgotten it.  I love her loyalty to her friends and how even though she’s watching them drift away one by one, she still has girl’s lunch and goes to the beauty shop like it’s her job.  I love that Margaret Proctor called her to “serve” at her holiday tea and Nanie actually did it…I mean, she actually hired Nanie instead of asking her to be a guest!  And you know Nanie just smiled and didn’t say a word and served every last one of the ladies, including me.  I love that she chaperones her 93-year-old friend on car trips because her friend’s family doesn’t want her driving alone.  I love her loyalty to her husband and I really hope I can live up to the love that Parrish knows exists from watching her.  I love that she invites you to tea and cookies in the afternoons and uses real china.

I love how much she loves my child and I love how much Sylvie worships her.  Sorry, but Nanie’s the favorite of all of us.  I love that she finds special things around her house and saves them for when Sylvie visits and that she makes a big deal out of Sylvie’s small accomplishments.  I love that she taught Sylvie how to properly apply lipstick.  I love that when I take Sylvie to her house to run errands or go to yoga, she says, “Take your time,” and she means it.

Most of all I love the fact that I get to love Nanie.  How many people get the chance to call their 90-year-old grandmother their friend?  To me, that’s the best thing about Nanie and I’m so happy to have her as my friend.

Vicki Popwell joined us as our own paparazzi and caught some great moments on film.  She is amazing.  She also had the great idea to put the family photo in the paper, so we'll all be famous come the Saturday edition of the Star News.

I leave you with another funny...Parrish has been biking pretty regularly and mostly goes with his friend, Daniel.  A friend of ours recently saw them together on their bikes and thought, "Well, there go some Mormon boys giving out Bibles again!"  Nope, just boyfriends in Spandex discussing carb counts and mileage.  Real life is so funny...who needs fiction?

God Bless,
Katie