Nana was a woman of little pretense. I remember how when she came with my parents to visit me while I was living in France, she looked over the menu in a fancy restaurant and declared there was nothing there to her taste. Rather than stuffed pheasant or boeuf à la mode, she wanted boiled chicken. My recollection is that the chef obliged, and the poor bird was brought out on a silver platter.
Among our family's best memories are our visits to the house Nana rented on Nantucket. It must have been one of the smallest houses on the island, probably a former servant's quarters. It was hardly bigger than her huge Cadillac, which was an adventure to drive through Nantucket's toy streets. One evening meal would always be lobster, and Nana would tell us how she had to chase one of the rascals down the street when it jumped out of the shopping bag. After dinner, we would put the remains out for Charlie the Seagull. We noticed when we were on Nantucket last summer that the little house is gone, a much bigger one now in its place. But Charlie the Seagull is still waiting up in the sky for Nana's treats.
Nana was also a woman of great instinct. An important story for my family is how she chose a school for her children. It seems she and Grandpa were driving up north of Boston, along route 28, which goes through the town of Andover. Nana told us how she noticed the pretty school at the top of the hill and decided to send her sons to it. It made her very proud that several of her grandsons went there, too, and then when two of her great grandchildren did -- Henry and Delphine -- she could hardly believe it. It took Delphine quite a long time to convince Nana that Andover now accepts girls. All of us share the feeling that Nana's choice of school turned into one the best experiences of our lives.
Few people are blessed to have a relative who goes as far back as 100 years. I can't say I discussed the past too much with Nana, but her home and style of life did represent a kind of link to history. Our visits to her on Sundays when we were kids gave us a respect for the past and a sense of the importance of family. So this year of the millenium is truly marked for us as the end of an epoch. For my family, her legacy will be the importance of family ties.
