An Angel to Watch Over Us

     Having lived in a small town where everyone knew every person in it, there were still people that seemed to be unknown.  Characters really, like the little old man who would sit in his rocking chair on the front porch with a B B pistol, waiting for dogs that strayed into his yard, or for cars that went a little too fast down the residential road.  Shooting them if anyone dared to test him.  You would think he was a grouch of a man, in reality he was a very well liked in his community.

     The woman married to him was so sweet and had nothing but nice things to say to everyone she ever met.  My boyfriend’s grandmother was Nanny.  She loved to take people under her wing and give them tender loving care.  She took in all kinds of kids when she was much younger because even though she didn’t have a lot to share, she would share with those who had even less.  The Depression had taught her that there were always those who had even less and she was very grateful for what she did have. 

     In her youth, she gave birth under the care of a mid-wife, who gave her ether in a cotton cloth held around her nose.  There wasn’t any way to regulate the ether so sometimes you give too little and sometimes too much.  It was never enough to take someone out of pain because there was no such thing as an episiotomy and you tore every which way.  Then you had to get stitched up and there were plenty of stitches.  She gave birth to her first-born son, who died from leukemia within a few months.  The only picture of him was taken not long after the baby died in his cradle.  The baby looked just like he was sleeping so peacefully. 

     Eventually, they had another child and he too had leukemia.  Nanny took him to doctors and held the baby’s head when they put a needle in his head to run a test.  She did everything anyone ever told her in order to keep this one alive.  Her prayers were answered when he kept on growing up and getting into trouble and learning just like any other boy.  This boy grew up and got married to his sweetheart.  In time, they had three healthy sons.  All of Nanny’s fretting and worrying finally paid off and she was rewarded for all her hard work. 

     Gene, her husband, and Nanny stayed close to their son and was able to be there to baby-sit the three boys and help to raise fine men.  She was a tower of strength and full of all kinds of stories of her youth. 

     Her father had come to Texas from Tennessee in a buckboard wagon.  She was just a little one but she could still remember that trek.  She was the middle child of five children, and the older children had to walk along side because all their belongings were in that wagon. 

     It must have been hard to grow up in her era.  She was the sweetest, in spite of her hard times.  Everyone who knew her called her Nanny, and they were glad to know her.   She made you feel good to know her.  I was proud to be her honorary granddaughter, and call her grandmother, but she was much more than that.  She was a best friend, a sister of the soul, and an angel to watch over us.