Happy Birthday Nanny Bug

Today would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday.

Annie Ruth was born December 30, 1908 in Atlanta , GA. She was the 15th of her father's 17 children, and the 10th of 12 that her mother had had with him. While it would seem easy to get lost in a crowd that size, my grandmother nevertheless managed to stand out.

Like when she modeled in the catalogues for the local ladies clothing store J.P. Allen's while still in her teens.
She married my grandfather Reid in 1929, and my Dad followed a year later. According to the back of this photo, this is my dad, but I think it looks more like my aunt Nancy. Although, I can still see a lot of Dad in that face as well. So who really knows.

While her first name was Annie, she went by her middle name Ruth. She was not fond of her first name, and when a state employee mistyped it as Anna on her driver's license one year, she did not correct them. I think Anna gave her the air of sophistication she desired. Of course, a few years after this photo, she became a grandmother and thanks to my brother, the first grandchild, she was dubbed Nanny Bug and it stuck. By the time I came along - the youngest of all of the grandchildren - I didn't even realize that she had a real name other than Nanny Bug. After we lost her in 1990, the grand kids all chipped in and had Nanny Bug added to her tombstone. (Forgive us - We are all kind of crazy that way.)

Nanny Bug and my other grandmother Cleo were as different as night and day - Nanny Bug was a city girl, while Cleo was from the country. Nanny Bug never left her room without full make-up, high heels and hair spray, and Cleo could not have cared less about that stuff. But in spite of their differences, they were each other's biggest fans. Here they are together at a family event.

I'm so thankful to have had both of my grandmothers as long as I did, but part of me wishes that they were still here today to celebrate this milestone. Nanny Bug would been perfectly coiffed, as usual, and would obviously have had on a pair of expensive high heels, even if she needed a walker to get around in them.

Love you Nanny Bug. Have a Happy Birthday.