Family - My Mom’s side this time

Over the summer I told you about my summer vacation with my 16 cousins, 9 aunts and uncles and my Grandfather from my Dad’s side. Tonight I got together with my Grandmother along with the rest of my Mom’s side of the family for a mini reunion since 2 of my Nebraska second cousins were in town.

My Grandmother, also named Juliana, is 86 and loves to entertain. When the three of us are together, she loves to tell people that she is the “original Juliana.”

She had 5 children (my mom and 4 brothers) and all except for one reside within a 15 mile radius of her home. So tonight, my cousins Danny and Cory were in town. Danny, from Nebraska, took a year off from college to help build a baseball field in Bowie, MD.

His Dad’s company builds golf courses and baseball fields. He will be in the DC area until Thanksgiving. My cousin, Cory, also, from Nebraska, is taking a short 4 day break from med school to visit the DC area. My mom’s cousins, Marianne and Steve also originally from Nebraska, have settled in DC and are always at family gatherings at my Grandmother’s house.

I want to touch on what an inspirational woman my Grandmother is. My Grandfather was a naval Officer and aircraft carrier pilot. He was later the communications officer of the first crew of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise. Many times he was away for a year at a time and my Grandmother was left to raise the five children. She was a career nurse, who returned to nursing when her children were in college and late high school. She always proudly wore the traditional white cap and nurse’s uniform and her nursing peers called her “Super Nurse”. She would always volunteer to work on Christmas so that the younger nurses with young children could spend the day with their families. Her nursing skill came in very handy when my Grandfather fell ill with Parkinson’s disease. She took care of him for 17 years as the illness progressed until he passed away two years ago. She never wanted to put him in a nursing home, although she is only 110 pounds and struggled to care for him.

Five years ago, she was stricken with breast cancer. She found a lump during a routine monthly self exam. Her greatest concern was not herself, but rather who would be able to care for my Grandfather while she was recouping from her surgery. She opted for the radical double mastectomy, not wanting to risk a reoccurrence of the cancer. She is a breast cancer survivor now for 5 years now and I can tell you except for her surgery and three weeks following, she has never missed a beat. She is a true inspiration to me and I think it fitting to talk about her story during Breast Cancer awareness month

Juliana McKee