Happy Birthday Nana!

Nana on her 80th birthday and retirement from Bank of America - after 40 years!

Today is my Nana's 92nd birthday. She was born on July 18, 1916 in Batesville, Mississippi, a poor farming town just west of Oxford, home to University of Mississippi.

Words can't express how grateful I am that she's still with us. Although she doesn't know me, I cherish the moments when I call and just hear her sweet voice.

My Nana has always been my biggest cheerleader. When I lived in DC, I don't think a week went by without a handwritten, multi-page letter from Nana usually also filled with newspaper clippings she thought I would enjoy (this was before the internet). I imagine that if she were still able, I'd have regular lengthy emails containing many hyperlinks she thought I would enjoy.

A sexy pic Nana sent to my grandfather while he was overseas during WWII. She had some hot legs!

Last weekend, she had a rare afternoon of lucidity and shared the story of her marriage to my grandfather, Jesse Paulk, with a family friend. Nana told the friend that she and my grandfather were married on September 30, 1938 at Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee and that she made her wedding suit. She said that they were always in love, that she still loves him with all her heart (he died on September 12, 1961 - my mom's 13th birthday), and that she always misses him. She said she looks forward to being with him again in Heaven and that she wants to just hug him.

My mom is throwing a birthday party for Nana at the nursing home, complete with cake and strawberry ice cream (Nana's favorite) and balloons. I can't wait to talk to Nana when Mom is there.

So take a moment and wish my Nana a Happy 92nd Birthday. She's a remarkable woman.