Warrior Nana

After having spent six weeks travelling around Central America on a whirl wind adventure of exploration into new places, cultures and into the cogs that put my relationship into motion, it was finally time to go and spend some quality time with my Nana Thelma in Florida. For over thirty years she has lived in a small retirement village in Lakeland, Florida which has meant only a handful of moments have been spent with her during the past twenty-six years. As the mother of my mother, I am already fortunate to have a natural bond with her meaning that every time I walk in a room and she is there, I feel like I have come home. It is the exact same feeling I have with my own Mum. Both of these women, my Mother and my Nana have very similar traits - and I'm starting to learn that I do too. For example, while my Nana T was making sandwiches yesterday, I watched with intrigue: the way that the tuna mayonnaise was put together was exactly the same way that I had been taught by mum. A little salt, a little pepper and some vinegar to add to the taste. Simple but Delectable and exactly how I would do it. It has made me ponder about how many other similarities and differences we may have.I'm sure the short week I will spend here will shine a light on a few of these things.

Now I have become a grown-up (questionable I know),  I have felt a stronger urge to come and spend more time getting to know this incredible woman Thelma. Thelma the Trooper. She's survived a stroke which left her having to re-learn even the most basic skills, a struggle that took over a year to overcome and where she was without speech for six months. She was so determined and so strong that she found within herself, the power to paint again (she was the most skilled painter before the stroke) and is now at the same level of skill that she was before. A few years of peace and then Nana noticed a slight pain in her tummy. She made a visit to the GP and after a few tests was told that she had bowel cancer. Devastating news. But, she soldiered on and with the help and support of those around her, she took the cancer on and beat it. I hated that I could do nothing for being so far from her but was comforted by the knowledge that people were really, and truly caring for her. I know my Mum felt the same. About a year ago, Nana T's second husband Texan Jim, who cared for Nana in her darkest hours, had an accident whilst he was in hospital and he sadly passed away. I remember him for telling incredibly bad jokes. I once got him a Bad Joke Book as a Christmas present and have noticed it in Nana's house since I've been here. It's spine is all bent and it seems that book had some good use. Nana had lost her first husband, my Granddad about twenty or so years ago.

Now you'll see her zipping around her village in her golf buggy with her little dog Mitsy (who will be three years old in a few days) saying hello to all of her visor wearing, very tanned and very wrinkled friends around the pool, popping out for a bite to eat at her local haunt 'The Moose' and going for a bit of a shop on a Sunday in her Ford car. She may perhaps be struggling with her arthritis and a few other ailments, but this woman is a strong one. She has a wicked smile, twinkling eyes and a raspy laugh that I remember from childhood. From Thelma, I have seen and discovered a new form of mental strength that I never knew possible.