My Nana: A Prayer Request

(This post was written this morning. This afternoon, my Nana went to be with Jesus. I ask that you lift up my family in prayer.)

I’ve been up since 4:30 am. Elias woke up crying, which is not like him.

I stumbled into his room, found a babi (what he calls a paci), brushed his sweet head with my head and tucked him back in.

I then crawled back into bed, but couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about my Nana.

Praying for her.

Reflecting on her life.

I have written before that my Nana (mom’s mom) has advanced alzheimers and is in a nursing home in Wisconsin, near my family. (My grandfather passed away when I was in third-grade).

We didn’t think she would make it through 2010.

Of course, she proved us wrong.

She always has proved people wrong. It’s her style to exceed expectations.

But this week she took a turn for the worse.

Hospice is managing her pain with morphine. They say the end is near.

My family is hurting.

As I prayed this morning, I was reminded of such simple memories of her:

Nana used to love to read books. I think I get my voracious love of books from her. I remember looking at her bookshelves thinking, someday, I will read books that are that long.

Nana was the first person to introduce scrapbooking to me, though I didn’t realize it at the time. When I was about eight, she made a scrapbook of newspaper clippings – puzzles, brainteasers, crosswords, etc. I did every one of them and still have that scrapbook tucked in a box of childhood memories.

Nana loves blueberries and raspberries. I will forever associate them with her.

Nana was really sick during her pregnancies too. As I puked every day with this baby during the first 15 weeks of my pregnancy, I thought, Nana did it. Mom did it. I can do it too.

I’m so grateful we spent some time with her when we were home for Thanksgiving. She was having a good day. She held Elias while he slept and again when he woke up. They were playful toward each other.