Remembering Nan

                                     Frances Mae MacNeill ( Holland)  - March 9th, 1919- March 26th, 1994


I couldn't let this day go by without a small tribute to such a fine lady, my Nan. Today marks the 20th anniversary of her death,  March 26th, 1994.

I think I have mentioned before that when we first moved back to the Island we stayed with my Nan for at least 2 years.  Nan was like a second mother to me. She and I had a special bond. She always knew just what to say and always made me feel special. I remember when I was sick I would stay with her during the day and she would give me this brass bell to ring when I needed her. And when I would ring it she would come running and say in a pretend English accent "you rang , me lady" or something close to that...I would giggle and I'm sure I must have drove her crazy ringing that bell, but she never let me know it. And she always seemed to have a fun game to play. I remember when she showed me how to make card houses using a deck of cards and I would sit on her living room floor for hours building the coolest card houses ever! Something about Nan's house made you feel better, taken care of. I can remember being in my late teens and still when I went to visit I'd get that peaceful, easy feeling as soon as I walked in the door.

Regretfully, I don't have a lot of pictures of my Nan but thought I'd share this one of Lisa and I and the story behind it , because it sums up the kind of person my Nan was.

The picture quality is poor but anyone who grew up in the 80's knows what Lisa and I are holding. Cabbage Patch Kids!! They were all the rage and they were a very hot item! After waiting what seemed like forever we finally got them! I think there was a sale on at The Met. All I remember is Mom holding the boxes out and saying " I got the last two girls"! AND we were pumped! While I stood there with a huge smile, taking in this incredible moment in my life Lisa was up and grabbed her favorite before I could say a word. Now you can't tell from the picture but my Cabbage Patch kid didn't come with those pony tails. She had short hair and as happy as I was to finally get my Cabbage Patch Kid, I kept looking at Lisa's doll and hers had this cute pony tail and I couldn't help but wish that I had picked the one with the pony tail first. Nan noticed this and said she could fix the problem. She went to her closet and just happened to have yellow yarn that matched almost perfectly to the hair on my doll's head. I can remember she spent hours in her rocking chair that night cutting and knotting each new strand of "hair" until my Cabbage Patch had two beautiful blonde pig tails! I was beyond thrilled with her new look!

That was my Nan. Always making things better.

Love and miss you,

xoxo