Amazing women in my life

I was thinking today about my Mother's Day celebrations. Around one lunch table, we were fortunate enough to have four mothers. My grandmother (Nanna), my mother, my sister and I. We're a very lucky family.

So this is part one looking at some of the amazing women in my life. I wanted to start with Nanna. Yesterday, my 13 year old niece got snippy and a bit rude to Nanna. You just have to love teens at that age because otherwise you'd ship them off to Siberia and enjoy the peace! I said to Miss Snippy 'Hey! That is one of the most amazing women you will every meet so you treat her with respect! She's in her 90's. You're 13. Get up off your butt and move!'. Miss Snippy wasn't impressed but it made me think. My Nanna really is an amazing woman.

Nanna has always been amazing to me and I've been fortunate that she has remained in my life for this long. As a child, some of my fondest memories are of Nanna playing with us and looking after my sister and I when we visited her every Christmas (Mum and Dad must have loved the peace! Nanna's place was like their Siberia!).

She used to walk us to the shops and buy us soft-serve icecream! She would buy the bottles of milk with the cream on top and the bread that was never presliced. She would often take my sister and I to see live theatre which I loved. She would make sure I had a bath and wore clean undies but let me get really messy in the yard without getting cranky. She would never force me to step into water in the driveway that the other kids used as a minipool (I hated water then-not much has changed!). She would take us on drives, and cook us breakfast. She would drive for hours to take us to different relatives and to her holiday house near the beach. Ultimately she would love us.

As we grew older we started to see what an amazing Nanna she is. Nanna has grandchildren-rose-coloured-glasses. She never sees any flaws or any mistakes we make. We can do no wrong in her eyes and I've never doubted that she is proud of me or loves me. She was born and raised in a totally different generation yet always seemed accepting of anything. She would give us money just because we needed 'to play' - even in our twenties!

Sadly, Nanna's health started to fade in her 80's. One of the worst days of my life was when she suffered a heart attack. Fortunately she felt no pain but just dropped. While waiting for the ambos I remember holding her hand. She looked so pale and tired. She knew I was there though and responded when I told her I was there and she would be ok. She said later she was frightened but was reasurred that I was there. That was nice of her to say and I hope it was true. Sadly, Nanna's heart has never been as strong since and she struggles with issues. Her cardiologist says there is nothing let to do. She is in her 90's and it's tired.

When pregnant with Mini-Me, Nanna said she just wanted to live long enough to see my baby. She did. I was very proud to show her off and introduce her to Mini-Me. I was even prouder to tell Nanna that Mini-Me has the middle name of Lydia - also Nanna's middle name. It was a wonderful way to pay tribute to my Nanna. She was just as excited when my boys arrived and is very proud of her 5 great-grandchildren.

Nanna is in her early 90's now. Her body is failing her but her mind is still very much her.
I know rationally there will come a day when she is no longer with us. And I hate the thought of it. It makes me feel sad and panicked and I know I'll have to try very hard to remind myself of everything she has taught me. One day if I am lucky enough to become a grandmother or greatgrandmother, I hope I do half as good a job as she has.

My Nanna is one of the most amazing women in my life.

Who are the amazing women in yours?