Day 4 of 365...

Day 4 of 365: Today I am thankful for my grandmother (a.k.a.Nanny Jo). 

I am thankful that God chose me to be her granddaughter; thankful that I have the honor of being named after her (JoAnn --> Joanna); thankful for my relationship with her. She is truly and without a doubt my very best girlfriend. And we get closer as time goes on. I love that. I love my relationship with her.  

Things weren't always so great, though. And I believe that is part of what makes me love her so much now. (You can't appreciate what good you have without experiencing a little bit of the bad too...)  There was a time when I was very disrespectful, down right mean, and a real pain in the neck to her. As an adult myself now, I have apologized over and over for that, too. I retrospect, I think I treated her like that because I knew she was my safe place, my 'go-to' person who would never give up on me... I knew all that about her at that time even though I didn't think about it or acknowledge it. I am thankful the Lord has given me time with her to make those bad times right, because there sure were times when she had every right to want to kill me, and every right to actually go through with it.

She has taken me through some of the hardest times in my life... She was the first person to talk about God with me, and she was my safe haven when my father was battling his own demons, and I needed to be somewhere else for a few years. I am eternally grateful that she took me in when I was 13 and raised me until I was grown. I didn't realize what a jewel I had in her until I was in my early 20s.

She has been the one I can go to if I need to cry, laugh, vent, or just get away. She has been my rock when I was a child/teen and times were hard... when my immediate family situation was less than perfect, she became my mother, more than my grandmother. She showed me how to be a tough, independent person. Showed me what is really important in life, and never gave up on me. 

Today she still feels more like 'mom' than grandmother. Words will never be able to fully describe the love I have for her. And today we are closer than we have ever been. I appreciate the sacrifices she had to make in order to raise me, and I appreciate the time she put in to me, all because she saw something in me that at one time I did not see in myself. 

There was a time when I wanted to be nothing like her. Those awkward, awful teen years were hard...on both of us, honestly.  I was doing things and living a life that I knew was not the right path, but chose to walk it anyway. Thank God I eventually came to better judgment. Today I am proud to be named after her, and even chose to follow in the "Jo" line of names for my first child, partly in honor of her. Today we have more in common than ever, and her wisdom is worth more than gold to me.

I think she sees a part of herself in me now, and that makes her happy too. Now I am the mother of two boys just like she is, and we are able to share stories about motherhood and the funny/wonderful/stressful/annoying/awesome joys it brings.

I can only hope other people out there have someone else like this who means this much to them. If not, you're completely missing out =)