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Today, I’m sharing my love for one of the most inspirational people in my life.

My Nana, my Mother’s Mother, who will be staying with me over the next week.

I hold this woman so close to my heart, because she makes me feel as though my own my mother is still physically here.

The attributes she has as a woman are second to none, she has style, grace and the confidence that one could only dream of. She honestly astounds anyone who meets her.

She says what she is thinking and only wants the best for her family and herself.

She has lived through a world war, gave birth to 7 children and endured loosing two children and the love of her life to illness. She remained loving and loyal to her husband (my Nanu) and stood by him through the upmost toughest of times and tried to be the best mother she could be at the same time, and she carried these life experiences with the absolute elegance of a queen.

We have a running joke in our family that she is just that, “The queen”, “Queen Annie” and to our family… she truly is.

She travels back and fourth from Malta to Australia yearly and I make sure that I schedule for her to stay with me for a week or more, because I need a dose of the queen every chance I get.

She reminds me that I reign from her and that every part of her is hidden within myself and that I too have the strength, grace and elegance that she holds.

She also reminds me that I should always dress well, do my hair and speak kindly to others and to myself. Because if I don’t, she will most certainly tell me how I should be doing things.

She’s also very talented, in her hey days she was a seamstress.

She made all the clothing for herself and her children. Even up until now, she buys good quality material and gets things made to her own design. She would sew her own if she could, but her eyes and hands are starting to fail her.

She told me a story about my mum and how difficult it was for her to get this particular design of dress completed, because my mum wanted a very specific dress in a shop but Nana wanted to replicate it instead of wasting extra money. Being a mother/ daughter project, you could imagine the fireworks of Maltese fury when my mum thought things weren’t going to her particular design, in the end the dress was made just the way she wanted it and my mother loved it.

When my Nana comes to stay with me this week, we will be making home made Maltese ravjul (Ravioli) a traditional dish that I remember helping with when I travelled to Malta with my mum when I was in my early teens.

I want to continue making memories with her until our time runs out, because she’s a special kind of woman and I’m so grateful to be apart of her!