Grandmothers

Loving, caring grandmothers -- people who love us unconditionally, and make us feel special. I didn't get to see my grandmothers very often growing up, but I remember them so vividly, and miss them. My father's mother, who I called Nana, was short, sweet, and full of life. She and my grandfather shared an apartment in NYC for so many years - with lilac bedsheets, black & white tiled floor in their tiny bathroom, a small kitchen where she would prepare brown "to go bags" with bananas, for us to take on car rides home, heart-shaped buttons she kept in a jar, pretty hats she wore on her soft, white, pin-curled hair. I remember that she loved to laugh. My Nana developed Alzheimers back before people understood what it was...
My mother's mother, who I called Gigi (real name was Marcelle), was someone I could relate to so well. She was quiet and shy, and spent a lot of time by herself after she was widowed; she lived in the garage apartment of my aunt and uncle's house on Long Island. She was one of 5 girls and 2 boys, and always dressed like such a lady, even into her nineties. Her mother was French, and named her daughters Odette, Georgette, Marcelle, Julia & Louise - such pretty names! Gigi watched the Academy Awards every year and loved to comment on everyone's evening gowns. She sent letters and cards and gifts for every occasion. Grandmothers are so special!