I am posting this Birthday wish a day early.

Some will say that it is not polite to tell everyone a ladies age, but this is Nana we are talking about. This Saturday Nana turns 78! That is really an age to brag about. You would think Nana is 28 somtimes. There is 50 years between myself and her, 25 years between myself and my mom, so it makes it easy to remember how old we all are.

I love my grandmother and here are some reasons why. Growing up in Ireland, I would spend every single summer out at her house. That was 3 months of nothing but me, her and the country, ohh and I cant forget Tiny. He was our dog. He would follow me all over the country side as we explored and looked for Queen Aine’s Treasure. (think I am kidding? click the link). Anyway, I cherished the summers out at her house. The memories are countless and priceless in my mind. One summer we climbed to the top of Lough Gur hill, which is no easy task, but we did it, the view from up there was incredible, you can see Limerick City which is almost 40 minutes away. Not many grandmothers will man-up and climb a small mountain with a 8 year old full of energy, and a passion for lost Irish treasures. She has never once every raised her voice at me in anger. She was my best friend those summer months. Every night we would sit around the fire and watch TV, with a nice cup of tea with plenty of sugar and bickies (these are cookies, she calls them bickies). My favorites were the pink creme filled one’s, they tasted great when you made them soggy from dipping them in the hot tea. I would eat a dozen or more, because with Nana there was no limits on bickie consumption.

Going to town on Saturdays was a blast, we would hop in the “Puddle Jumper” this was her two door Corolla that would jump every pothole from one end of Ireland to another. We would pick up her friend Mrs. Goery and off to town we went. This was exciting for me, we would get the TV Guide and some chocolate. There was also the dougnuts. We would get dougnuts that were not covered in glaze like here, and we would warm them over the fire so they got toasted, and then roll them in sugar. This was pure heaven.

My grandmother is awesome, and always will be. I have a very special place in my heart for her. She makes me laugh and says some of the strangest phrases, all of which make her one of a kind.

Happy Birthday Nana and Lord, Love A Duck.
Greg.