Nanny & Grumpy

Nanny and Grumpy are my paternal grandparents.  Grumpy got his name because he was grumpy about being old enough to have a grandchild and the name stuck.  They have been married for over 60 years.  Nanny is 93 years old and Grumpy is 88.  I think.  They both were born in London and both of them served in the army.  Nanny was in charge of an anti-aircraft gun.  I'm not sure what Grumpy did during the war.  I should ask.  They met at a dance and had a short courtship.  After the war they moved to Canada, serving in the Canadian military.  Grumpy has been stationed in the Middle East and India.  Nanny became an administrative assistant and Generals used to argue over her because she was that good.  In 1953 they had my dad, their only child.  They traveled so to give my dad some normalcy they sent him to boarding school in Ontario.

I remember still, going to visit them in Ottawa, which is where they lived after Grumpy retired from active service and got a desk job.  There was a restaurant on top of a tall building there that revolved so you could see the whole city while you ate.  Visiting them was always special, as it was special visiting my other grandparents too.  I only got to see them a couple of times a year.  They were strict having been a part of the military, and I didn't always understand them.  But I love them.  As I got older and more well behaved I became very close to them.

After retiring they moved to Nova Scotia then North Carolina.  Eventually my Dad convinced them to move up North to Boston so we could be near them.  I got to see them all the time after that which was wonderful.  They live in Brookline now, which is sort of Boston.  But then a year ago I lost my car and I couldn't afford to take public transportation to see them.  They had gotten rid of their car a few years ago.

But then something wonderful happened.  After I got out of the hospital on Monday, Nanny insisted on seeing me.  She asked Grumpy to rent a car and they drove up to my town outside of Lowell.  We had a lovely visit.  Nanny got to see the guinea pigs, and niether of them wanted to see the snakes.  After living around poisonous snakes in India, I can't say I blame them.  But we had a good chat.  Nanny is very frail now so I had to be careful while hugging her, but she's hanging on like a trooper.  I am so glad they came.  It meant so much to me.

I know I'm lucky to be 35 and still have grandparents and I count my blessing everyday.  Especially since I have as wonderful grandparents as they are.