Happy 85th To my Nan!

I just got off the phone with my Grandmother who lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia, it was my routine "Just Checkin-in" call. Nan really amazes me, she has been through so much and I know has lived way longer than she ever expected to, as morbid as that sounds, she likes to remind me of this whenever we talk. That's what I love about her, she shoots from the hip, somewhere in her seventies she lost the filter, you know the filter that tells you "maybe I shouldn't say that?", now she says whatever she is thinking whether you want to hear it or not..haha.
She reminded me she is going to be 85 this Saturday, and still driving! Still living independently, still has all her faculties, and great health. We were talking about what she was going to do for her birthday, and how one of my younger cousins is getting married in October, this is the fourth grandchild to get married the third wedding Nan will have attended, we are very lucky. The only reason she didn't make it to our wedding was cause it was in the winter and Nan, doesn't travel to well in the winter and it would have been a long journey for her to make. Instead she and my two Aunts conspired to surprise me and make sure that one of them made it to my wedding along with my Uncle Gary and Aunt Helene to show their support.

Talking to Nan I find very sobering, she keeps me grounded, I appreciate that. Times like these really make me wish I was home with her, taking her to Swiss Chalet for her birthday dinner, talking about anything and everything. Nan has a sixth sense of this, when I am home sick and knows the right things to say to make it a bit more soothing. Nan, knows a lot about being homesick.

Nan grew up in Port Alberni, British Columbia, she met my Grandfather who was from Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he was on leave from the Canadian Military and a friend of hers set her up on a blind date with him. They kept in touch for the next year or two through letters and such. Then when the war was over, and Grandad was done with the military he flew to B.C. to get Nan, they married by the third day, and she left home, to move to Halifax. They were married 45 years. (Nan and Grandad in 1945)
Times were tough, so Nan didn't get home to visit often, as a matter of fact it was close to twenty years before Nan and Grandad could head back to visit her family in B.C. Yes, Nan knows all about being homesick, one of the first things she told me when I left home for Alberta 8 years ago, "You never stop getting homesick, it just gets a little bit easier to deal with", she was right, it never stops, I just find new ways to cope with it.

I was back home in April and got to spend a lot of time with her, it was great, exactly what I needed, time with my Nan! I noticed our relationship change over the years, for the better, now she sees me in a different light. She adores Paul and has only really met him once. "It doesn't matter" she says, "I see what he has done for you, and it makes me so happy you found him. That was one of the best things you ever did was meeting that young man." That means a lot coming from Nan, the Monarch of our family. It's a big deal to get the "Nan" Seal of approval, doesn't come easily.
I asked her what she planned on doing for her 85th birthday, she says what do you do when your 85? I suggested doing something she has never done before. She's 85 no one is going to stop her!

Only thing we could come up with was a Nude beach, she wasn't down with that idea so much. I am sure whatever she does she will be doing it in style.

Happy 85th NAN!!! We love you!!!!