Nana
Nana
Tracey Gabriel*
Even though she was Loretta, which I did not find out until I was much older, Nana said it all. Nana taught me to embroider. Nana spent hours walking the beach with me hunting for Petosky Rocks at the beach house. Most importantly, Nana meant the smell of pies of many colors, from mincemeat and pumpkin to apple, cherry and lemon meringue, which eternally donned the counters of her kitchen.
*My mother
My family would typically take a ‘trip to the city’ to visit Nana and Papa about every month or so for Sunday afternoon dinner. But we never had to wait in hunger, as Papa would always have a lunch spread ready for us. This usually consisted of deli bread, deli meats, cheeses, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, lettuce and last but not least Miracle Whip salad dressing.
At home, our staple sandwich makings were peanut butter and grape jelly, and if we were lucky, we would get a bologna sandwich, or even luckier, a fried bologna sandwich. So, the deli sandwiches wrapped in Miracle Whip were always a special treat.
At Nana’s funeral, it became apparent that everybody thought that they were Nana’s favorite. The way that she looked at and spoke to us all turned out to make us all feel as if we were all the most special. This made me sad, as I always felt that she and I had a special bond. Although, I quickly came to this conclusion; Nana’s favorite cake to make was Lemon….and that was my favorite too