Sunday 30 November 2008

Regarding Nadalene


















She is the younger of my two daughters, my second child, and my awakening.

When Nadalene arrived Angelique was 23 months old and Nathan was not on the radar. Oh my God, how much we loved this little girl. A little girl who, on the day she was born, had her eyes open and could hold up her neck.

Wahid was a little disappointed because he wanted a boy. Now he would not trade her in for a million boys. She is her Dad’s girl.

Of course, eventually as all little girls tend to do, she grew up, and today she is 31 years old. I am amazed how time has sped by, because I can see her life spread out before me and it is as if the 31 years are a bolt of lightning; all of the years contained in that flash.

I am in awe of the memories I have of Nadalene. No matter how things have evolved in my life to this point, I can truly say there is so much joy. Nadalene is one of my three greatest joys.

The past and present are sitting here with me right now. I haven’t forgotten much of what it felt like back then when Nadalene was a little girl. I can’t share all of our memories right here though as many are for Nadalene and me alone. As well there are 31 years of memories and they cannot be written in a bolt of lightning like they can be looked at.

When Nadalene was a baby she was so clever that she walked at eight months old (I am not exaggerating) and toilet trained herself by a year old. There would be no stinky or wet diapers for her. On the other hand I had to wipe her bum until she started kindergarten. I can hear her now “Mom, Mom, I’m done.”

Angelique and Nadalene were and are inseparable. Angelique (loving and kind) would always allow Nadalene (loving and bossy) to be Vanna White and open the cupboard doors in their game shows. Nadalene would always be the one in my heels with a spoon (cigarette) hanging out of her mouth having everyone in the room cheering her on.

When Angelique started kindergarten, Nadalene would wait patiently for her to come home so that she could play school in the playroom with Angelique and all of her friends (do you remember this Cindy) and Nadalene would be the teacher. She wanted it and so Angelique let her be it, although in the end two of our kids would be teachers, Nadalene was not one of them.

When Nadalene came home from kindergarten she would have a million invites to play and she refused them all. I even had my lines practiced ‘No I’m sorry she cannot go play today.’ (By the way she had me saying that line up to her 20s.) I had no trouble saying those lines either because I knew that all she wanted to do was remove her leotards, get ice-cream on her TV tray, lie on her stomach, and watch Sesame Street.

Nadalene combed her Dad’s hair and curled mine on a daily basis. When she was about nine I had to join her jazz-a-size group and pay her a quarter a day for the lesson.

She was the best little sister and one of the best big sisters anyone would want. When Nathan was born, Nadalene was the one who would walk in circles for hours to get him to sleep. I gladly handed over the reigns to that five year old girl because even at five years old she knew what was what when she knew what was what.

When Nadalene was 15 years old she joined Scottish Highland Dancing and won every competition she was in. Nadalene took everything she did seriously and never wavered once she started. Nadalene has the will of 12 horses, 3 black bears, 2 unicorns and 9 butterflies.

Nadalene has had many nicknames: Nadalene the Dancing Queen; Nad the Bad; Nad; Naddie; Nadia; Nada. Nadalene has always been the queen of giving nicknames too: Pudd; Nilam; Annia; Donovan; Nathaniel or said in French Nathan; Lizzard; Kirdy; Suzanne; A.J.; and her two favourite to her two favourite people Chazz and Nugget/Nuggie.

As a woman, Nadalene is an incredible individual. She has helped me so much in so many ways.

In the beginning of this post I said that Nadalene is my awakening and in so many ways she is. Nadalene is the conscious of our home. When we want to ignore things, she just won’t let us (more relentless than a pit-bull). FIRE she roars, we say no Nad, it is just smoldering and may go out on its own. She yells a little louder and actually pokes you with the hot stick to get your attention (I did say relentless right) until you, like her, scream Fire.

Nadalene is and always has been an absolutely beautiful looking person and I wonder if that has allowed her to become who she is in some ways. Not having to let the physical get in her way she was able to focus on other things.

When Nadalene got her Masters in City Planning I joked with her about her bossing and whipping us all into shape by thinking she was the Master of the house, while now, I told her she has the papers to back it up.

Nadalene got married last year to her high school sweetheart. She works as a City Planner and is the most thoughtful person you would have the good fortune to know.

She is the younger of my two daughters, my second child, and my awakening. Nadalene thank you for the privilege.

Happy Birthday Nadalene. Love Mom, Dad, Angelique, Nathan and Josephine.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

happy bday nad!! i guess your mom is right....your not too bad...lol...

RG said...

Hi Renee...I feel like I'm really stepping into your personal world here...You are a remarkable woman...keep sharing your insights...they will help others who can help others, who will help others....etc. Don't stop.
You've posted on my giveaway...good luck and thanks for playing!
hugs to you
Robyn xx

Anonymous said...

nadalene has the biggest heart and i as her god-mother am lucky to have a piece of her heart.
when i saw nadalene for the first time in the hospital... there were two things i noticed right away...
one was that she was strong enough to hold her head up and look around and
the other was that i could not get over how exotic looking she was...it was striking and she is more beautiful today.
while nad was growing up she would call me for anything and i would come running.
well she grew up and puberty hit ...and if you know anything about nad she is the cleanest person i know, showering a couple of times a day and of course changing clothes at least twice a day as well.

unfortunately one day she was frantic to get ahold of me to pick her up at school. that day she could not reach me.
so desperate to get home she called her grandparents. well it was grandpa to the rescue.
all the way home her grandpa was asking her "so nadalene your not feeling good ? no was all nad said.
grandpa then said "well you look ok to me are you sure you are not just playing hooky (skipping out of class )??
it is ok to do that once in awhile but i would not do it often.
nad just sad there gritting her teeth, thanked grandpa for the ride ... to which he answered i hope your feeling better soon.
nad waved and went inside the house and panicked.
she phoned her mom at work and told her what was wrong... then renee called me and i went right over.
by the time her mom got home from work
nadalene went thru an entire bag of always maxi pads and had at least 8 showers.
later i arrived with a pms kit:
a couple of individual size hot chocolate...an assortment of chocolate bars teen magazines.... and some kotex for teens.
nad thanked me and as i put the kettle on for tea she proceeded to take anothe shower...
anyway nadalene is all heart and there isn't anything i would not do for her..
love you to the moon and back nad.
happy birthday.
aj

Anonymous said...

Love your and AJ's tribute to Nadalene. Jacquie that is so funny. Yes Nadalene is truly one of the lucky ones to be blessed with good looks but she is absolutely beautiful inside where it really counts.Happy Birthday Nadalene Love Auntie Mickey

Anonymous said...

I have always felt a spiritual link to Nadalene, possibly she was mine in a passed life? In my mind's eye when I think of Nad as a little girl I see her dressed for bed ... most people would just say in her pjs - no I mean dressed for bed; nightgown, slippers and housecoat (with all the buttons done up to her chin, she might even have had a roller or two in her hair & a full face mask or moisturizer on at the very least) winding down watching her show enjoying her last smoke (I see a pencil) of the day, of course "Hywak" & "Thing" would be settled in beside her.

I love you Nad, Happy Birthday!

Renee said...

Shelly, what a wonderful comment. I love it and burst out laughing because I can picture close to the same thing.

By the way, Nadalene has always been yours and mine in this life too considering you practically raised her when she was little. Maybe it wasn't only Grandma that she was imitating smoking.

Love Renee

Anonymous said...

Never too much, never too little to say about that Nadia, she is a one of --, no, come on I was going to say a one of a kind, but really she is most like me, we have the P&V in our genes.... Sometimes too honest for our own good, but we can live by it, Over-the-moon on you Nad, hope you had a great b-day and I want people to know that I did have the honor along with AJ to give the toast to the bride and here is to you again with all my love AC

Emerald Arts said...

Happy Birthday Nadalene :)
Your mum gives the best birthday speeches ever ;)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for all the memories.

Pudd you are my shelter and I have always known that AJ, AC, Auntie Shelly and Auntie Mickey are pillars of support.

I thought this quote was a perfect reflection of the women in my life:

“A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water”
Nancy Reagan

We have had a lot of hot water recently and I got to see how strong you all are individually and collectively.

Unfortunately I am a little weak these days (probably an earl grey) but I hope to be a strong orange pekoe like my aunts one day.


Nadia

flossy-p said...

Happy Birthday Nadalene! :D

Anonymous said...

I came across your blog because of Flossy P...and just read about Nadalene and you have made me cry. I have my own, second girl, my own awakening and a total of 3 angels myself. And it is amazing when you realize how fast time flies by, like the flash of lightening. Madeline is my awakening, and though she is not yet 31, she has given me 7 years so far of helping me learn about myself, in such pure and creative ways! thank you for that post!!

zoe said...

It sounds like she was a really adorable kid, I love the Vanna White story, and I'm proud of her for her achievements in dance ;)
She is lucky to have such a loving and thoughtful mother, and your writing about her is beautiful--make me feel I have met her.
Happy birthday Nadalene!

Angie Muresan said...

Happiest of birthdays Nadalene. You sound like an amazing woman and with Renee as your mother I am positive you are. Blessings!

Alexandra MacVean said...

Happy Birthday to Nadalene! What an incredible and beautiful daughter. Renee, I feel so blessed to have stepped into your life.

Vicki Holdwick said...

I love how you write about your family. Your tribute to Wahid almost brought tears to my eyes and your tribute to your lovely daughter is doing the same.

Happy B'day Nadalene!

xoxo

Great-Granny Grandma said...

I love reading these beautiful tributes to your loced ones. You sound like one awesome family.

Draffin Bears said...

Wishing Nadalene a very Happy Birthday. How proud you must be of her, she sounds like a gorgeous and very talented woman.
I loved reading about her and found it interesting that she has a Planning degree.
That is what my husband does ~ he had worked for the Council for many years and then about 12 years ago he set uo his own practice.

Hugs
Carolyn

Kelly Lish said...

Oh Renee, that was just so sweet. Nadalene is very lucky to have such a thoughtful Mother. I bet all those words mean so much to her, coming from you.

Happy Birthday Nadalene!!!!

Aleks said...

Happy Birthday Nadelene and give a warm hug to your mama for me if you want,will you?Have a great birthday,greetings from Aleksandra
PS Renee,congratulations with the birthday of your girl,love and peace!