Nana

My thoughts have been with Nana this past week for some reason and I'm not sure why, so I thought I'd post a picture of her and Abby when Abby was just teeny tiny. It's not her birthday, anniversary of her death, or any other meaningful date that I'm aware of. I guess she's just sitting on my shoulder! I thought about her a lot last week, but then Sunday was All Souls Day and that made me think about her even more. The priest at church told us that his second grade teacher told the class one time that they should all move over in their seats to make enough room for their guardian angel, and then said we should imagine all those people who have gone before us sitting next to us on All Souls Day. On one side was Julie (my cousin) and on the other was Nana. During church was the kids mass, where all the kids go downstairs for their own teaching, and when Abby came up she said she talked in class. I was surprised and asked what she said, and she said that she told them Nana when they asked about people who they knew who died.

Then, after church, Nana was really with me. I volunteered to bring communion to one of the nursing homes near my house. It's not really something I'm comfortable with. I really don't like old people or nursing homes (I try not to be uncomfortable, but I just really am!), but I knew how important it would be for Nana to get communion when she was homebound and later in the nursing home, so I decided to do it. It was actually a very good experience. It's an Assisted Living facility, so the residents are mostly mobile on their own, able to hold conversations and were really very thankful. I know how doing something for others makes you feel good about yourself, and in this case it was really true. These residents were just like Nana and it was nice to feel like I was spending some time with her again. And nice to know she's helping me along my way!