Day 76: Gold Party Hoops

Day 76 and today for the first time in what seems like ages, I feel almost human again. I've got a bit of energy and the random stabbing pains and general sense of heaviness and fogginess have almost lifted. To celebrate I chose my party earrings - a pair of extra large gold hoops that look a bit excessive on a bald headed woman, but hey, that's all part of the fun.




I've worn these to some fabulous parties in the last few years, Maddie's and Chris' 50th, Cazy's 40th and our country and western New Year's Eve party that we had just after Mum died to remind us of her love of life and sense of fun.

Sharing a joke with Maddie and Sue at Maddies 50th

Doing the grapevine with Lindy at Chris' sports party

With my sista's Geets and Lindy at Cazy's Disco 40th
(me wearing Nanna's sunnies!)

A sense of joie de vivre is an essential part of our family's makeup. Mum was insistent that we celebrated the big and small moments in life - not just births/days, graduations, weddings and the usual, but the little victories and surviving the tough days - which I suppose is what I'm doing today. This came from her acknowledgement of the swiftness of life, and the need to live with no regrets.

Chappell Cowgirls,
NYE 2014

Nanna in a sapphire satin dress
that ended up in the dress up box

There's also no doubt that some of Mum's sense of occasion was inherited - from her mother, my Nanna Clare, who, we can confidently say, lived life to the full! Her vivaciousness, sense of fun and love of a good party has rubbed off on all of us in the large tribe, which is her legacy. The photo below captures some of that tribe, but not Suzie and Pete, Sammi and Jodie and partners, Ree's big kids, or all the gorgeous little babies who have been born since then.

Some of the Napier Tribe 2013

Entertaining on a cruise to NZ

Nanna and Peter, TIYL 1977

The thing Nanna loved most was entertaining: tap dancing was her thing. Her greatest claim for fame was teaching Peter Allen of 'I go to Rio' fame, how to dance; one of her greatest memories was appearing on 'This is Your Life' with him. 

Clare and Harry

No doubt Nanna's approach to living at times came at a cost to her own children - Mum, Eilee (Day 29), Margie (Day 61) and Suzie (Day 55). She was widowed young, when my dear gentle Pop died suddenly of an aneurysm in Kings Cross just after leaving the hospital visiting Eilee after she had given birth to my cousin Matthew, Nanna and Pop's first grandson. I can't imagine how stressful that must have been for Eilee, managing her first baby and the death of her Dad simultaneously. Nanna took it hard. I was four, and remember the tears. She later remarried Lenny McCann, a character in his own right.

For me, especially when I was young (and could see no down side), Nanna's big, bold and brassy approach to life seemed magical: her earring collection I've already mentioned; her dress up box was a treasure trove - full of masks and costumes of all sorts - from the stage reviews she regularly directed; and, her reel-to-reel tape player was always on full volume as Ree, Lindy and I helped clean her house and were able to keep all the loose change we could find (and there were lots of coins thanks to the poker machine payouts from the RSL club down the road!). 

Still dancing, 1987

As teenagers, when she was then living in Port Macquarie she'd leave us in the car in the club's car park but cheekily bring us out advocat and cheery brandy drinks while we waited for her to finish her daily ritual in the club, which more often than not included doing her food shopping via a very random process of punting on the food raffles. Nanna always had the most eclectic and large slabs of meat and produce in her fridge thanks to this lottery.   

Me and Nanna in a lavender mist, my 21st, 1987

By the time Nanna died in 2001, she'd stopped dancing but was still singing up a storm in the nursing home. Many of the songs she taught me - Lily of Laguna; You are my Sunshine; A Penny a Kiss; Every Little Star - have become the foundation for the lullaby repertoire in our house. Thankfully Angus still likes this ritual, so I feel like she continues to be part of my everyday life.  

Today, reflecting on Nanna has bought me lots of joy, and a tinge of sadness. It was otherwise a quiet day in the house with just me and Molly (and Joni Mitchell on full vol). Saint Rob took the boys to the Royal Easter Show - a place I regard as hell on earth, but which he generously agrees to take the boys to every year. At least I had a decent excuse this time!

A late afternoon walk in the sunshine followed by a skype wth Fiona in Edinburgh capped off a good day.