Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Desire (01/17/05)
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TITLE: Magazine NanaMagazine Nana | Previous Challenge Entry
By Linda Bartlett
01/20/05 -
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My beloved only son had passed away at 26 after a life long battle with physical disability.
As well as losing a son I also lost a sense of family
My late second marriage though very happy had not produced any children.
Often seeing other woman my age with grandchildren produced a response of sadness that surprised me. Having long ago accepted that this would be possible for me.
Nine months after the death of my son it came to me to put a notice in a woman’s magazine asking if any other woman were in my position and giving a box number.
Months went by, the magazine did not print my request. After an initial disappointment I became convinced that it was not God’s Will, that perhaps my grief may have prompted my action.
Clearing my box one morning I noted several envelopes addressed to me, and on opening them found them to be letters answering the notice. I was upset at first that it had been printed six months after being sent in.
From all over the country letters came all wanting to adopt a Grandma.
I wept tears over these letters. The courage these folk had in opening their pain to a perfect stranger touched me deeply. I replied to each, as best I could.
The flow dwindled. The last letter enclosed a photo of two little girls. The mother stated she was not looking for a baby-sitter or money but a Nana for her girls. They had emigrated from South Africa and had no family in this country.
Having noted that the address was in Auckland and not too far from where I lived I rang and we agreed that a visit for coffee was a good idea.
I said a quick prayer on the way over, wanting the family to have the same belief system. As I drew up outside the house a lady in her mid thirties and a little girl appeared and waved and smiled making me feel welcome from the start.
We had coffee and a chat. The nine-month-old was napping and the three-year-old demanded to know if I was going to be her Nana.
We agreed to take it slowly be honest with each other and see how it went.
It has been a growing relationship for all of us. And I am now the proud Nana of three girls.
We are all committed to this for the long haul. The grandparents who live overseas are happy and generous about sharing these beautiful children and I am boundlessly grateful.
A spiteful comment that I was only a magazine Nana was for us an unwitting testimonial of love. Also that God works in strange ways his wonders to perform.
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