My Nan would have been 100 today.   She was one of the coolest ladies I’ve ever met.  

There are so many neat anecdotes about her but one of my favourites is that she took flying lessons and kept it a secret from my grandfather and her father who, when they found out, made her stop because she was a mother of young children.  *insert a 21st century eyeroll*  I wish I knew more about her younger years but she played a huge part in my childhood and cultivated such an amazing family vibe for all the Bonnettas (and Greshams!).

She taught me how to play cards, brought me to bridge club, ran down empty grocery aisles as fast as she could with me in the cart, sped down Columbus road from her place in Port Perry to take me and my sisters to school to try to get as many roller coaster vibes and air as she could, hosted the absolute coolest open houses at Christmas time, decorated for every holiday, curled and golfed and got a hole in one in her golden years, threw out a Zorro mask I wore to the curling club and told me I must have lost it (I just realized recently that I was gaslighted), had a license plate border that said “bitch on wheels” when I was a kid until her children made her remove it, always had a white hard shell suitcase in her trunk for spontaneous sleepovers, never had fresh milk so you got a chunky surprise quite often, smuggled cookie crisp from the States any chance she had, taught us how to make hors d’oeuvres for parties, watched game shows religiously, took a motley crew of cousins to the cottage out of the blue and often we’d have to listen to romance books on tape which grossed us out, gave us lots of driving practice in her giant Cadillac (both before and after we had licenses), micromanaged us when we dried dishes, gave us many memories in Florida, always had a stash of yummy treats, gave me a fully sequinned hat that I wish I still had, brewed Mazinaw tea, spent hours cooking for all of us and I didn’t truly appreciate it until I was a grown up, was a friend to so many, called Nan by people who weren’t her grandkids, raised 5 kids like an absolute boss, and cultivated an amazing Bonnetta legacy through her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids.

I am so grateful that I was blessed with a Nan like Evelyn Bonnetta and I am so grateful for the ways she shaped my life and the gift of family she gave us all.  

Love and miss you, Nan.  Happy 100th Birthday in heaven.

If you have a story about Nan that you want to share please leave it for me in the comments.