November 1, 2009

October 31st may be a day of witches, goblins, and candy corn, but for me, it will always be a reminder of my Nana. She would have been 99 on Halloween.

Born in the year of Halley’s Comet, 1910, she lived through two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf I & II, and 9/11 – she died in 2007.

London during the war was prime time for my Nana. Although she and her daughters were evacuated to the safety of the suburbs, her husband, my grandfather, stayed in town. Grandpa was a drinker and a great piano player – you could count on finding him at the upright in the local pub.

Nana had two young girls to look after and wasn’t happy with her husband cavorting late at night, but the struggle to survive kept the family together. The post war years improved their lot. Grandpa stopped drinking. Nana and her husband ended up running a successful coat and jacket business.

It’s easy to look back, knowing that the Nazis were defeated, but living in that era, not knowing the outcome, it must have put an edge on even the mundane – imagine dashing out to the grocery store, needing to get back before an air raid struck.

I was in Vegas recently and that reminded me of Nana too because Sin City was one of her favorite places. She loved the spectacle, the energy, the gambling. Her adrenalin pumped. She loved the shows and got so amped up, she couldn’t sleep. Often she’d play slots until dawn. Maybe Vegas came closest to generating that war-time intensity – that feeling of each second carrying weight because everything was on the line.

Nana witnessed my early success – I lived in England for several years in the 90’s with a job that had me jetting around the globe, but she was a tad perplexed when I dropped out to be a writer. I was just getting involved with CBGB when she passed away.

Most people Nana knew, did what they had to, not what they wanted. I was the first kid in the family to graduate from college. She was proud of what I’d accomplished and pleased that I enjoyed what I did, regardless of how lucrative or not it might have been.

Despite the vampires and ghouls roaming the neighborhood in search of candy this weekend, I was preoccupied with a different sort of spirit -- Happy Birthday Nan...I love you.