Lately while doing my meditation studies I have been seeing the colours red, black and white and those colours make me think of my Nanny. With her white hair and blouse and her red vest and black skirts. It is funny when both my Nanny and Poppa were still alive, I use to dream of a green house and a green chair next to a fireplace with a brown leather chair on the other side of the fireplace and I knew my Grandmother and Grandfather were watching over me and that felt safe, and now I since going through what I can only call my 'breakdown' it seems my Nanny is close by and it feels like she is hugging me sometimes and other times just sitting on the side of my bed. These are lovely feelings; I feel the love of my grandparents from both sides sending it out to me and I am forever grateful and wish I knew how to send them love back.
I think my urge for sewing and knitting right now are my connecting with my grandmothers somehow, wow I am actually crying as I write this out lol I am such an old sap! lol
Reading my cousin's blog today and how she dealt with her bickering kids reminded me so much of our Nanny and how much she loved all of us Grand's and the Great Grand's and would have been thrilled to have meet the Great Great Grand's. Thank you Michelle for reminding me of the loving nature of Doris we were so lucky to have had her for as long as we did and to have Poppa even longer was such a wonderful blessing.
I have OFTEN thought about how it would have been to have my Mom's parents see us grow up into the adults we have become, I wish they could have seen us and all our kids, I think they would have enjoyed it a great deal!
To Thomas, Olive, Doris and Frank, I miss each of you so much and for some reason a lot today. May you all keep watching over all of us and sending us the love we sometimes do not think we deserve.
I love you all very much.
Sharron Colleen
Showing posts with label Nanny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nanny. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
My sister Sandy's Tribute to our Grandfather
Papa’s legacy
My grandfather (Frank Senicar) was an amazing man. He was the patriarch of our family
I can’t speak to what life was like to be Frank’s child but I can speak to life as Frank’s grandchild and great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.
Family was the most important thing to him. He was always smiling, he was content with life. He accepted everyone for who they were, expectations were never beyond what each individual could attain. I can’t remember ever hearing him raise his voice at me,
My family had the luxury of growing up in the same town as our grandparents. This made for a different experience I believe. We would stop by and Papa would get home from work at the Cooperage, dressed in his work clothes, have a beer sit on the patio in the back. You were always greeted with a big hug and expected to sit on his lap and let him know what was new …did you have a boyfriend to which our response was usually Papa! After he retired he would pick us up in strawberry season and we would go strawberry picking together, an adventure that now I cherish but at the time wow did I wish he had better things to do because I hated strawberry picking. Through grades 6-8 my sisters’ and I would come for lunch at Nanny and Papa’s much to their delight, we would have cheese dreams, beet soup, waffles and ice cream & home made doughnuts. Often Papa was not there these days as he was driving for the cancer society, this got him out of the house and he was doing something to help others. We can only imagine the peace and tranquility he experienced each of these days on his trips to Hamilton. For those who knew my grandmother you can appreciate that Papa was the seen not heard person in the relationship and boy could she talk!!! Obviously this was the dominant trait to be passed on as there are only a few quiet soles within this family. He adored Nanny beyond what most relationships these days could even hope to attain. their love was special.
I was never embarrassed of my grandparents, I loved when they would stop by when I was working at Canadian Tire through high school and college they just wanted to know that I was well and they were so proud of me for pursuing my dream of being a nurse. For a couple that worked hard their entire lives all they wanted for their grandchildren was for us to live a good life and be happy.
Now for the legacy that Papa has left through the eyes of his great grandchildren:
· The man never had a job… he has been retired since I was 10yr old. They cannot understand his work experience in the tobacco fields or years in the Cooperage although for anyone that looked at his fingers ouch that might give them a clue.
· Wow what a memory… he knew every member of our family and what was important to them …somedays I can’t remember the names of my own children.
· Eat what you like and love….. years of table cream in his coffee, Nanny’s baking. We have grown up watching our fat intake and caloric intake…. maybe it is us that are doing it wrong.
· Driving into his mid 90’s
· Living in his own home until his stroke
We can only hope that Papa’s resiliency, compassion, strength and love are passed onto our children, because out of his 4 children,11 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren probability tells us that many of us will not come close to attaining this legacy.
My grandfather (Frank Senicar) was an amazing man. He was the patriarch of our family
I can’t speak to what life was like to be Frank’s child but I can speak to life as Frank’s grandchild and great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.
Family was the most important thing to him. He was always smiling, he was content with life. He accepted everyone for who they were, expectations were never beyond what each individual could attain. I can’t remember ever hearing him raise his voice at me,
My family had the luxury of growing up in the same town as our grandparents. This made for a different experience I believe. We would stop by and Papa would get home from work at the Cooperage, dressed in his work clothes, have a beer sit on the patio in the back. You were always greeted with a big hug and expected to sit on his lap and let him know what was new …did you have a boyfriend to which our response was usually Papa! After he retired he would pick us up in strawberry season and we would go strawberry picking together, an adventure that now I cherish but at the time wow did I wish he had better things to do because I hated strawberry picking. Through grades 6-8 my sisters’ and I would come for lunch at Nanny and Papa’s much to their delight, we would have cheese dreams, beet soup, waffles and ice cream & home made doughnuts. Often Papa was not there these days as he was driving for the cancer society, this got him out of the house and he was doing something to help others. We can only imagine the peace and tranquility he experienced each of these days on his trips to Hamilton. For those who knew my grandmother you can appreciate that Papa was the seen not heard person in the relationship and boy could she talk!!! Obviously this was the dominant trait to be passed on as there are only a few quiet soles within this family. He adored Nanny beyond what most relationships these days could even hope to attain. their love was special.
I was never embarrassed of my grandparents, I loved when they would stop by when I was working at Canadian Tire through high school and college they just wanted to know that I was well and they were so proud of me for pursuing my dream of being a nurse. For a couple that worked hard their entire lives all they wanted for their grandchildren was for us to live a good life and be happy.
Now for the legacy that Papa has left through the eyes of his great grandchildren:
· The man never had a job… he has been retired since I was 10yr old. They cannot understand his work experience in the tobacco fields or years in the Cooperage although for anyone that looked at his fingers ouch that might give them a clue.
· Wow what a memory… he knew every member of our family and what was important to them …somedays I can’t remember the names of my own children.
· Eat what you like and love….. years of table cream in his coffee, Nanny’s baking. We have grown up watching our fat intake and caloric intake…. maybe it is us that are doing it wrong.
· Driving into his mid 90’s
· Living in his own home until his stroke
We can only hope that Papa’s resiliency, compassion, strength and love are passed onto our children, because out of his 4 children,11 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren probability tells us that many of us will not come close to attaining this legacy.
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