It’s very strange to think that after 30 years, I will never be returning to Nanny & Poppy’s apartment – it will be the end of an era tomorrow when I walk down the catwalk at their condo for the last time. It’s funny how the condo aged with my grandparents over the years. Even though new retirees have moved in, the vibrancy of the place that I remember from when I was a kid doesn’t exist anymore. The shuffleboard courts have faded away, the tennis club was shuttered years ago, people no longer crowd by the pool to play cards and discuss where to go for early bird dinner…
We all eulogized Nanny today – my aunt, my mom, my brother and my two cousins – and we did her proud. We all used vastly different words and memories to describe what she represented to us, and it was quite beautiful.
As we start to sift through the drawers and the closets, finding treasures in piles of old letters and photo albums, we realize that our little Miss Neat hoarded everything – and managed to keep her inability to throw anything away a secret from us all.