Dear Pam and Ricky,
No one will miss Nan more than me. No one. Just very glad I had her for 72 years… most people don’t get to have their moms for that long. I didn’t get to see her everyday or weekend like you did and that was because I decided to live in Texas after my Air Force duty ended. But, I used to go to PA a lot at Christmas (especially when you kids were little), other holidays, and family events with Uncle Fred, and I spent Pop’s last summer helping Nan go thru that really difficult time for her (Pop-wise and money-wise). Thankfully, she and Pop came down to Texas A LOT and we always looked forward to their visits. Even when Nan came down alone the past 20 years, she was like a different person when she got to Texas. I loved that person. And she did things here that she probably wouldn’t have done in PA. Nan got to do things that most people never get to do, and this is the Nan I will remember:
- She got to be a flight attendant once! Nan and Pop’s flight from San Antonio back to Philly in 1975 was seriously delayed because the airline was having trouble finding a sub for a flight attendant who called in sick. This wouldn’t be allowed today, but Nan told the people at the check in desk that she was a waitress with lots of experience dealing with “difficult customers” and she would like to volunteer so people could get back to Philly quickly. They said yes — and after the plane took off, Nan helped them serve breakfast, sometimes speeding up the process by throwing small cereal boxes, bowls and utensils wrapped in plastic, and cartons of milk to passengers who were sitting rows behind the cart the real flight attendant was pushing. The entire flight loved her. She walked the aisle clearing breakfast stuff and refilling coffee cups and when the plane landed, passengers cheered her and the flight crew awarded her with airline wings! (I hope you find them in her jewelry box, keep them and tell this story to Olivia and Mia!)
- Nan liked to visit the LBJ Presidential Library a lot… to see the rotating special exhibits they had. She also liked going to the second floor where a mini oval office was and Mrs. LBJ’s private office. Nan was lucky enough to often ride the elevator with the former First Lady. After the 3rd or 4th time, Lady Bird recognized Nan and they would chat. And every time she got on the elevator when Lady Bird was in it, she’d ask Nan, “so how are things in Pennsylvania?” How many people get to chat with First Ladies and have them remember who you are? Nan always felt special about that. She was here with us when Lady Bird died and her casket was at the Texas Capital for people to pay their respects. Nan wanted to go so much, but the lines were just too long. Nan said she felt like she had lost a friend.
- Nan also got to chat with our very famous female Texas Governor, Ann Richards, who had white hair styled high so people could see it a mile away. Uncle Fred used to work closely with the governor when she was state treasurer. (Fred and his team developed new computer programs for Ann to better account for Texas money. Ann loved your Uncle Fred.) One time at Christmas, the governor stopped in our jewelry store when Nan was dressed as Impostor Mrs. Claus. Nan was just starting to go gray so I bought her a white Mrs. Claus wig to make her look more authentic. These two white-hair beauties chatted for a long time about the pros and cons of having white hair! We used to have photos of them laughing during the long chat, but I cannot find them. Nan might have them in her collection of photos.
- Fred’s best buddy was on the construction team when the Texas Capital was getting a restoration. Larry gave Nan and Fred hard hats and a special tour of parts of the Capital that the public never gets to see. The Capital’s historian joined them and told great stories about what went on in the building at various times in its history. There are photos of Larry, Fred and Nan with their hard hats on somewhere in her photo collection.
- Nan made a series of radio commercials (9-10) for our jewelry store. I created an on-going story for our commercials. Jewel was the star and she had a boyfriend named CZ and a BFF named Ruby. But the character that people liked the most was “Aunt Pearl” whose voice was Nan’s. I always made sure Aunt Pearl had the best lines and funniest reasons people should shop at Impostors. Nan loved making these commercials, especially when she got to make several at one taping… they would be played for months after she went back to PA. And the radio staff loved her. They were so excited when Aunt Pearl was in town. No one but them, Nan, and me knew who Aunt Pearl really was. (Nan and Pop were the Impostor Santa and Mrs. Santa for 4 years and the shopping center got a big kick out of them! Everyone knew they were my parents. The horse-drawn carriage driver would take them all over the shopping center and the one next to ours! They always attracted a lot of attention. People came back each year just to see/talk with them.)
- After one of our famous Memorial Day floods, Nan took it upon herself to direct traffic in and out of the neighborhood of our first house. After seeing the morning news on TV, she wanted to see how bad things were in our neighborhood. She borrowed a pair of old jeans and high boots and ventured out. When she didn’t come back after 2 hours, I got in the car to look for her. There she was at the neighborhood’s only entrance waving cars to come and go. The entrance became a single lane and traffic was becoming seriously congested… so she decided to help. Got a lot of horn toots for her good work; she loved it. I made her quit when the police finally got there with warning and directional signs… she would have done it all day if I didn’t make her get in the car and go home.
- Concordia University (the last university I worked at) gave her an office and special ID tag and keys to copy rooms/the print office (faculty/staff didn’t have these keys) … so she could help with freshman orientation several summers and my teaching for several years after I retired from full-time advising/counseling. (I didn’t have an office, but she did!) She LOVED grading my tests. Insisted on using a red pen so students would know which answers were wrong… a few tests looked like a blood bath when she was done. She was here one year for several weeks in December and helped with our famous “Kick Off Final Exams” event where students visited with profs for extra study the night before final exams started. Then faculty/staff would cook the students a mid-night breakfast before sending them home to go to bed. Mom volunteered to make pancakes, on the “front line,” adding fruit/chocolate chips to them at students’ requests. They loved her!! When I sent word to Concordia officials that she died, they dedicated a special chapel service to her. That’s a VERY special honor. Concordia University Texas loved Nan and she really liked “working” there when she came to visit.
- She toured all 3 Presidential Libraries here in TX– LBJ’s at UT, Daddy Bush’s at TX A&M, and George W. Bush’s at SMU. Most people in America have never visited ONE Presidential Library!
- Unpacked us 3 times in Austin and at our Sun City home; she had amazing organizational skills. Could make a kitchen completely functional in record breaking time and have home-cooked cheese steaks ready for the movers before they got to the houses with our house-hold possessions. She was impressive… and extremely helpful!
- LOVED shopping down here!!! For hours! Yes, Nan! And trying on the stuff I bought her for her TX Closet. She was a fashionista like you’ve never seen! Loved giving me and Fred fashion shows. Hung her new outfits all over her Texas bedroom so she could see what all was hers and admire them as she laid in bed. Too funny.
- Ordered a margarita, maybe a small salad once in a while, and dessert every time we ate out. Unless it was Italian food or BBQ, she didn’t care about a main course. Margaritas and desserts were her priorities. Our friends and neighbors got a big kick out of her.
- Excelled at Wii 100-Pin Bowling and Mario Race Cars; best Uno player ever; could beat Uncle Fred at billiards and on his 4-hole putting green in our front yard at our last house. She was the most competitive gal I will ever know!
- She loved driving the 1999 Lexus SC400 sports car we had… said she felt like “Mrs. Rich Bitch.” She also loved driving the El Camino Fred had in the early 1980s and the small Mazda extended cab pick-up truck (with leather bucket seats that Fred and a buddie put in for me) I had in the 1990s. She drove a lot down here! Okay, only around neighborhoods and on non-busy roads. But, she LOVED driving our cars. Even Uncle Fred’s golf cart! She loved driving our last dog, Kadie – aka KDQT — around our part of Sun City to see what all was going on.
- Nan loved visiting her old gal-pal she originally met in Ohio way back in the early 1950s. Nan was so happy when Aunt Jaci moved to Texas, first to Katy (just outside of Houston) and then to Frisco (just outside of Dallas). They were like teenage BFFs when they got together, which was almost every time Nan came down the past 16 years. Took those two to a roller derby in Austin once and I never laughed so hard at them cheering on the Austin team. They entertained the crowd sitting around us. Said they were so glad I took them there instead of to the movie Magic Mike.
- Keep-It-Weird Austin has always loved celebrating birthdays. I think April 29 was Eyeore’s B-day and Austin annually has a big city-wide party for Pooh-Bear’s buddy. Shops and restaurants would routinely ask people when their b-day was to see if it was that day so they could give customers a free gift or dessert. Mom, being older and entertaining, would always get asked when her b-day was. She’d tell them May 4th and they would always reply with “May the 4th Be With You!” Mom’s reply was “what does that mean and why does every keep saying that to me?” Fred and I would explain Star Wars to her and how her b-date became associated with the movie’s famous line. At one of her visits, a Star Wars movie was on TV and we made her watch it. Afterwards she said the guy in the all-black outfit (Darth Vader) was hard to understand and he should have taken his “hat and mask off” when he spoke his lines. She also commented about people in the movie are saying the expression wrong – “May the Force Be With You should be May the 4 th be with you!” She never really understood it! Too Funny. Love it that she went to heaven the same day “Darth Vader” did.
Nan had a unique perspective on things. I told your dad to share some of them at her Oct. 6 gathering but apparently he didn’t… get him to share them with you. The three that I best remember were said by her in PA.
- The Christmas we got her the first computer and assembled that corner desk to create her “computer room,” she keep insisting it was all a waste of time and money because she would NEVER use the computer. We explained how she could keep in touch with everyone via email and play fun games instead of always cleaning the house as a way to distract her from Pop getting sicker and sicker. Fred taught her some games and showed her how to pull up new ones when she was ready to try something new. Well one day when she heard us heading out the front door, she stuck her head around the corner and asked if we’d be going anywhere near a computer store. Said she thought one of her games would be more fun if she had a joystick to use. She needed a joystick after telling us she’d never use the computer! We still laugh about that today!
- Near Pop’s end, Nan was getting really depressed. Lost a lot of weight and cried a lot. (Sounds familiar.) I begged her to visit her doctor and tell him that her family thinks Prozac would help her get thru this incredibly tough time. She kept her promise and called me as soon as she got back from the doctor visit. Said “I am not nearly as bad as all you people think I am!” I asked what did the doctor say? She snapped back with “he said I only need generic Prozac!!” I said “good, just be sure to take it every day.” She was too funny.
- Nan was a great teacher!! Her students loved her. But Nan could be a task-master and make students work harder than they ever did before. My favorite “student story” was about this young black student who transferred from a Philadelphia inner-city public school. He was in third grade but could only do 1st grade math. He was embarrassed but Nan promised him if he did everything she told him to, she’d help him get up to 3rd grade math by Christmas. And she did. Last day before Christmas Break the boy brought Nan a gift-wrapped box and told her to open it. When she saw mini marshmallows in it, she said “how did you know these are my favorites? I love these little marshmallows!” He fired back “these are not marshmallows.” They are snowman poop!! You were so mean to me that this is all you are getting for Christmas! But can I give you a hug for helping me get to 3rd grade math?!” Mom thought that was so cute! She completely overlooked the “you were so mean to me” part… but loved the creative idea of snowman poop!
In Texas we call funny people “a hoot.” If they are loved by everyone who knows them and really loves their funniness, we call them “a hoot and a half!” and that’s what your Nan was in Texas! We had a nice “send-off celebration” for her here while yours was happening in Blue Bell on Sunday. Nan lived a great story. Just wish her story’s ending could have been a little better… a little happier. She will live in many, many hearts forever. She will always fill mine! Uncle Fred said she was the best mother-in-law anyone could ever have. Hope you both live a great story, too.