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Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Great Nanny
I got a call from Mom last night, telling me that my great-grandmother—Mom's mom's mom—had died about an hour earlier, on her 101st birthday.
One Hundred One years old. Not too shabby, and not exactly what I might characterize as "untimely." And it hit me harder than I would have expected. At least part of it, I think, is that Great Nanny and Mom spent lots of time together during Mom's childhood—whole summers or at least several weeks at a time—and I guess a lot of my grief is on her behalf.
I don't have any bad memories of Great Nanny, but I do regret that I don't have more good ones, that I didn't spend more time with her than I did. I was fortunate to spend a couple of weeks with her and (Mom's) Uncle Woody the summer I turned sixteen so that Uncle Woody could teach me to drive. I remember driving down to the fast food chicken place on a few occasions to pick her up an order of livers (properly pronounced almost like "LEE-vurs") and spending time listening to her tell stories of her childhood and young married life in rural east Tennessee. It was a good two weeks, and I'll always cherish the memory.
I am also especially glad that Dad and I made it down to Florida to visit two years ago with Rick and Ed. At 99, she was frail and forgetful, but still very sweet. During the hour or so we spent with her, she told us several times that we were all pretty ("PURR-ty"), but she wasn't quite able to hold on to who we all were. It seemed to register once or twice, though, and I hope that she found as much joy in meeting a couple of her descendents as I did in introducing my boys to their living ancestor, their great-great-grandmother.
Great Nanny was born in 1902, and it simply awes me how much the U.S. and the world changed just during her lifetime. The recent Spanish-American War had helped lead to Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, the Civil War wasn't just another history lesson, and the United States of America numbered only forty-five. Prohibition, the women's suffrage movement, the Great Depression, both World Wars, the Berlin Wall, and Watergate had yet to come and go. The Wright Brothers had not yet left the ground, people moved around with horses and carriages, and the Big Bang theory had yet to be introduced. Great Nanny's life spanned all of that. I expect that lots of it didn't personally affect her or otherwise matter to her, but she was there then and now she's gone.
Yeah, she was old, and no one lives forever. She wasn't a huge part of my day-to-day life or always in my thoughts—generational, geographical, and gerontological differences were major contributors to that—but I always liked knowing she was there and had always been. We've all known for a while that the end was coming, and for years in the back of my mind there had been a little voice cheering for her: "C'mon, Great Nanny! Make it to 100!" Then 101. I really thought I was just being silly or selfish—looking for bragging rights about how long my great-grandmother had been able to live, I guess—but it turns out I was selling myself a little short: I truly miss her, and I loved her far more than I realized.
Well, foot! Rest in peace, Great Nanny. We'll miss you.
In loving memory of Josie Ajgie Roller Fleenor.
August 25, 1902 - August 25, 2003.
Posted 08/26/2003 15:31 by Fritz
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Comments
Nice. Love,
Posted by: Dad at August 26, 2003 07:03 PM