About 2 weeks ago, my Nana passed away. It was a major shock to all of us. Last week we held a funeral service for her. It was such a beautiful day, rather than being sad and full of grief, it became a day of remembering the good times and the funny times, we celebrated her life and who she was and what she meant to all of us.
For the funeral I wrote a speech to share and I thought it would be a nice to post it on here, A special post dedicated to my Nana.
I've written down just a few little memories.
When I think back on my times with Nana, all I can picture are us laughing. During visits and family
gatherings, whether it was something she said or something she did there was always something to
laugh at. We could always tease her and make fun at her expense, she always enjoyed it and got us
quite often in stitches. There are so many memories that send me into laughter thinking back on them
or just make me look goofy with a big grin on my face while I replay them in my mind.
One time that stands out was when Nana tried to get out of my 2 door car. She managed very well to
get herself wedged between the back seat and the front passengers seat and sitting on the floor.
I still don't know how she managed it, but only my Nana could manage doing something wacky like
that. A quick trip out was always full of surprises like that.
This was only one of the many times that left mum and I scratching our heads and rolling our eyes in
wonder.
A very regular part of my life was going to Nana's house, I don't know about anyone else but Nana's
homes always felt so homely and welcoming to me. I will always miss visiting Nana, it was
something I've done a lot of throughout my life. We always spent our holidays and weekends at
Nana's house at Port Waikato, where I played outside with Sam and the other kids in the
neighbourhood until it was dark, Nana used to sit in her garage having a naughty, as she used to call it
- a cigarette for those who don't know, and watch us play backyard cricket, she also couldn't help
herself but be a rambunctious sideline commentator.
At her house in Henderson Valley, I used to visit her after shopping to show her the new clothes I
bought, she would quite often turn around and say she wanted them and could I give them to her
when I'm done with them. Nuh uh Nana, they're mine. That was her way of saying she really liked
them.
Those were special little visits between me and Nana that I will always cherish, even if i did secretly
go for the chocolate biscuits and tea.
I have visited Nana so much over the years and have always had a cuppa with her.
I don't know how many cups of tea 25 years of visits equal to, but every single time Nana would ask
me if I had sugar in my tea. The answer has always, always been no.. Yet the silly moo would still
ask.
Let's not forget the loud 5 minutes of constant stirring and clanging of the teaspoon in the cups while
she made the most noisiest tea in the world.
On the occasions that I stayed the night, I used to love getting into bed after it was freshly made, she
always somehow made it so comfy and cosy like only a Nana could.
At The Port, Nana would hold my hand until I fell asleep like she did when Aunty Leah was little and
would tell me stories about that too.
At Henderson Valley she would sleep in the spare room with me instead of her own room. I always
asked her to wake me up when she got up in the morning so I could have a cuppa with her, but she
would sneak out.
She said she wanted to let me enjoy my sleep, but in hind sight she probably wanted a cigarette first.
Nana always had a big heart, we could never do any wrong in her eyes and she always wanted to be
part of everything we were doing. Whether that was dancing at a school disco, attending graduation,
or even just getting a chance to pose in front of the camera, Nana shared every birthday, came to
every school event, whatever I did Nana insisted on being there.
I love the special relationship Nana and I developed, I could always tease her, pick on her and make
fun of her and she'd always take it as the joke it was intended as and unsuccessfully try to throw it
back, I'm sure there were times she deliberately gave me opportunities to tease her too, just so that
we could have a laugh. She thrived on us making fun of her and she loved to tell everyone we were
picking on her.
My brothers and I noticed she would laugh along with us even if she didn't get the joke in the first
place, and sometimes the laughing would cause her false teeth to fall out. She would have us
laughing at her laughing, and at her not knowing what she was laughing at, if you get what I mean.
I already miss all of these moments, I'm so glad I got to share them and experience them, I didn't
realize you were such a big part of my life Nana and how much of a part you played, I didn't realise
how close we were. But I'm so thankful that we were mates.
I didn't appreciate it before, but I am so grateful that I am gifted with your name, I will now and
forever carry it proudly knowing it came from such a loving, caring Nana. You will always be with
me in my name and most importantly in my heart. You were the most amazing, loving, caring and
precious Nana a girl and grandchild could ever ask for. Today is the most painful day of my entire
life, I'm going to miss you so much. I know you are at peace up there in heaven, probably dancing
around with granddad and most likely causing chaos and havoc. You are the best, I miss you and I
love you to the moon and back Nana Ro, love Vicki.
