Antonia - Part 1
CHAPTER 1.
FAIRYTALES DO COME TRUE.
Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a little girl on a large farm. The little girls name was Antonia and she was born different. Unlike most people in her land she was born with porcelain skin, light blue eyes and the whitest blonde hair. I would meet Antonia and know her as ‘Nana’…
Her life wasn’t always easy, her parents died when she was young and she and her siblings were sent to live on her Aunt and Uncle’s majestic large farm. In those days lots of cows and land meant a great amount of wealth. The work was hard and sometimes scary for her. Thunder and lightening would come and she was forced to continue on and complete her chores.
When Antonia became of age it was time for her family to find her a mate. And so one day she was told to make a feast before a man and his family. She set the table and honored everyone there with food, settings, and devoted work. The next time she was to see this man would be her wedding day. But first his family had to give her family a dowry. Because of Antonias beauty and unique design she would tell her child, grand-children and even great grand-children, as well as anyone with an ear to hear, how the largest dowry, in the history of her village, was given for her. She met her mate and she had a great love for him. He was tall, dark, and very, very handsome. His broad shoulders matched his broad loving smile.
They had many children, moved to a new land and never parted until he left this world for the other heaven. Antonia’s love for her mate was so big and so grand, she never married, never looked, never loved again. She was comforted by the love still alive in her heart for her mate and hoped to see him when she too passed away. She waited almost 50 years and at 93 she left here to find her husband on the other side.
CHAPTER 2.
LIVE AS YOU ARE
If I wasn’t traveling with my family or playing with friends I was at her side. Nana was some version of magic that the rest of the world lacked. I was lucky that most often she was at my house, but when the warm began to cover the earth and the sounds of Spring and Summer began, she was almost always at her home. There she was deeply satisfied caring for and tending to her garden and flowers.
Nana was a women of confidence, dignity with a dash of spice and a heart that loved. Her house was a world unto its own. A closet filled with the finest furs that she refused to wear. When ask why she kept them? She would explain how the man she loved bought her them as a gift, and though a terrible gift (as she could not bring herself to wear an animal) she loved his intention and would never part with all those awful, silky-soft furs. She had whimsical ornaments about her home and a beautiful wooden China cabinet to guard heirloom plates and cups that had been passed down generation to generation. She wasn’t a women of fashion but was one of etiquette. There was the day robes, night robes, house coats and slippers to match and to be worn at varied times throughout the day. There was constant outfit changes… and I loved it! How unpractical and fun.
When meals were served they were always served on her family heirloom Fine China. “Do you want seconds? We never reuse the same plate! Here is a new clean plate with more.” And I wasn’t to get up and help. I was her guest. Even though I was a constant guest and there more often than not - I was always a guest. When I asked Nana why she would give her best Fine China to me, just a child, she replied that when you host you serve every person with honor. Age, clout, esteem wasn’t what influenced how you served - you served every person with your very best because every person has value. And so, even if it was just the two of us, which it so often was, there was always many little delicate dishes for her to wash. And of course, being a women of standards and so very proper, there was also the washing of the cutlery and all the glassware - water glasses, juice glasses and tea cups. There was always tea. Breakfast tea, lunch tea, in-between tea, supper tea and midnight tea. Nana liked to get a snack in the middle of the night, when the whole world was asleep… so did I! So we would get out of our bedroom slippers and into our house slippers to have midnight tea and cookies. It was a fantastical, magical, rule-breaking, live-as-you-like way to see the world. And I was sold.
CHAPTER 3.
FLOWERS.
coming soon….