I'll be back in a little bit...

Late on Friday afternoon, I got a call saying that, Nana, my grandmother died.


(This was taken on Christmas Night, 2005, about two months after her 95th birthday. And that look is not an older-person-slightly-vacant expression. Trust me, that look is merely an indication that she's considering the next sassy thing to come out of her mouth. Need proof? Look closer at her right eyebrow. That is one of her sassy signs.)



(This from this February. She was 97 and would be moving into the assisted living home pretty soon thereafter. She wasn't feeling well enough to come to the church or the reception, so when Husband and I left the reception, we went over to see her. Her nurses dressed her up in party finery and she waited on us to come. She wanted to see my dress, so I twirled for her. Later on, she told her friend Myra, Husband and I came over and got married at her house, which really was close enough...)

It wasn't unexpected. She was 98 and had not been feeling well for a few months.*

So Husband and I had been on notice and were prepared to hop on a plane as soon as we got the call.

When my sister called, Husband was in the middle of work things, so I headed out alone the next morning.


And after about 20 hours I arrived in Gainesvegas by way of Amsterdam and Atlanta.

I'll be back to Stavanger and The Pack next Monday, but suspect there will not be much time or resources for blogging in the meantime.

But just in a few days here are a few things I have noticed:

--Husband is the absolute best. I intend to keep him for a long, long, long time.

--The most polite strangers on any sort of public transportation are on New York Subways. No kidding. And I was barely even showing when I was there. Now there is very little doubt that I am pregnant** and I was a little surprised at the usual travel shoving and the lack of courtesy. (The stewardess*** on KLM was super nice and gave me loads of water, so that was something.)

Really, whether or not you are pregnant, have been pregnant, intend to be pregnant or to get someone pregnant, being thoughtful to pregnant people is really just the right thing to do. Being pregnant makes you awfully tired and slightly clumsy.

And really, if it were your mom, wouldn't you want someone to give their seat up to her? That is all.

And yes, for the cynical peeps out there, I was nice to pregnant people long before Pickle was a twinkle in his daddy's eye.

And as for the rest of it...I have loads of notes on all the things that have happened just in the 36 or so hours since I have been here, but it's kind of a lot and I'm still thinking on it.

So you'll just have to wait a bit, in case you're even a tiny bit interested....

They include, but are not limited to:

--Longtime friends and backing over a flowerbed at the age of 14.

--Supergluing pearl earrings.

--Little drawers in coffins, but there once used to be bells.

--The intrinsic value of and in Southern traditions.

--Once Nana was 36 and loved her family, too.

In the meantime, click below for a little more about Nana...

Daisy Elizabeth Blanchard "Miss Daisy" Watson, an educator, musician and Southern lady died on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, in Gainesville. She was 98.

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*This part I am completely serious about...other than a little bit of arthritis and missing her husband, (my Papa, who died in 1994) she lived alone, gardened, played piano for the Kiwanis Club and took mile long walks up until she was about 95. The last few years were a little bit rough, but not so bad, really. She did get extra sassy. (Which is not disrespectful to say, in case you were wondering. She would admit to it and laugh about it as well.)

**Other than to my brother, who has two children, so he is not unaccustomed to pregnancy. When I appeared, I was dressed in a pair of leggings and a flowy top. It was not highly fashionable, but it was comfortable, basic black, was not a muumuu and was also not highly unfashionable---remember I had just traveled about 20 sleepless hours door to door. He took one look at me, gave me a hug and said "You don't look all that pregnant. Really you could just be a little bit fat." Thanks, Will.

***I think there is a more PC way to refer to them (hostess?, steward? server?), but cannot think of it right now. So I'm sorry stewardess people. I mean no slight, my mom was one for a few years after college, if that counts for anything.