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"How quickly a life is lived"

Well I haven't been any better about writing more frequently. Another 10 months have gone by since my last post. I've been in Illinois for a year and a half now.  We're in a new home in a new town (5 minutes from the last), and we love the community that we've become part of. I still LOVE my job, and although I still don't feel like an expert, I do feel a lot more confident while caring for moms and babies.

Speaking of babies, I have a new niece and nephew! Laura had Carson Edward on September 10th. He's got luscious blonde hair and the most contagious smile. He started out as a tiny little nugget, and now he's a rollie-pollie ball of joy! He is the perfect little brother for his 2 big sisters!



Julie had Kennedy Rose on October 6th. She's the spitting image of her daddy and has the bluest eyes. She had rough start needing to be hospitalized the first 2 weeks of her life to get antibiotics, but she has been a tough cookie since day 1. She's always on the go crawling and pulling herself up on things. Happy as can be!



Another celebratory event was watching my Snuggie (aka Diana) get married in October! Friends since 6th grade and now we're a couple of married broads. What an honor it was to stand with her on that day and watch her commit herself to the love her life! J makes her so happy and loves her so well. Plus they threw a wicked party! Love them to death!


The event that inspired the most to write was the passing of my dad's mother. My Nana. Jean Greenlaw. She was 89 and had been sick for quite some time, but the loss has still been heavy to bear. She died peacefully after being surrounded by her kids and numerous grandchildren who sat with her and comforted her in her final days. I was fortunate enough to visit Phoenix a few weeks prior so I could spend time with her. I asked her questions about her life and listened to her stories and tried to take in every moment I had with her. It was surreal sitting with her knowing that my time with her was so limited. I felt a sense of panic and guilt that I had taken her for granted when I lived in Phoenix. Still, she told me she loved me and how proud of me she was and how much my visits have meant to her. Saying goodbye for the last time was nearly impossible. How do you walk away from someone knowing it will be the last time on this side of Heaven?

On the day that she that she died, I flew to Phoenix again to be with my family. I hadn't planned on that, but I couldn't stay away. I wanted to be there for my dad and the rare chance of seeing my extended family. I'm so grateful for that time with them. It was heart breaking to be in her house without her, but it was healing to be present and surrounded by physical memories of her. We all spent time looking through her pictures and heirlooms and treasures. I learned so much about her in that time.

Let me tell you about this extraordinary woman.

She was from New England and was drawn to the ocean, but she also loved the desert and lived in Arizona most her adult life.
She went to an all-girls college in New York before graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in English and French literature.
She loved to travel. After college, she spent the summer exploring Europe only a few years after WWII ended, and she kept a detailed scrapbook of her time there.
She was surprisingly tech savvy. She was one one of the first people I knew to have an email, DVD player, iPad, and 3D TV. However, she never texted.
Her 3 sons were the were the most important people in her life. She said being a mother was the greatest joy of her life.
She was a gifted writer.
She wrote a screenplay called "Radio Girls" about her and her younger sister during the time that their father, Phillips Lord, famously sailed around world in the 30s. He was a famous actor and radio personality.
She spent the last 10+ years researching her ancestry and writing books about her heritage.
She always told me she enjoyed reading this blog and that she hoped I'd keep writing because it's so important to record the happenings of your life. I had no idea that she wrote dozens of journals about her own life over the past several decades. She saved every one of them.
She wrote about a hundred letters to her mother during her time in college. Her mom kept them all and eventually gave them back to her. Nana saved them along with dozens of other letters and cards she received over her lifespan. One of them is a postcard from a college friend who wrote to her in 1980 and said "As life goes on I always remember your kind and gentle ways."

She truly was the kindest and gentlest person I knew. I never heard her raise her voice or speak harshly towards anyone. When I was 6 or 7 and she stayed at our house when my parents were out of town, I remember waking up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach. I tried so hard to be quiet and not wake her up, but I think all moms have a 6th sense when their little ones are sick. She comforted me and tucked me back into bed with care.
When I spent a weekend at her house in Tucson, I saw a paper doll kit at a store that I really wanted. I don't remember why I couldn't have it, but I do remember looking over her shoulder as she drew a replica of that doll and her dresses for me to play with.
She delighted in every skit and performance her grandkids performed for her. She attended the softball games, plays, choir concerts, graduations, weddings...she made sure we knew how much she loved us.

I could never live up to the legacy she left, but I will think of her every time I write and remember how much she valued family. I got the title of this post from a letter she wrote to her mom almost exactly 70 years ago about how that particular semester seemed drag on and on, but when it ended, she realized that it actually flew by so quickly. Even at 19, she recognized how precious life was when she said "How quickly a life is lived." She lived hers so beautifully.

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