Remembering Nana

Hi everyone. My name is Amanda and I’m from Evansville, Indiana. I’m fundraising for something a little different, which I think will make it more challenging. But I’m hoping that with a lot of really small donations, maybe from people who had a “Nana” in their life or can relate to her story, we can get there.

You see, my Nana passed away in the summer of 2018. Her name was Janet Lois Gore. She wasn’t actually my grandma, but my aunt… and she helped raised me. So “Aunt Janet,” for little me, came out to just be, “Nana.”

A little history on Nana: she was born June 1, 1941, so she would’ve just turned 80. Born just 6 months and 6 days before Pearl Harbor.

She was the oldest of 4 kids plus an adopted youngest sister. (That's her and my mom. ^) She was married at one point, but never had children… so her nieces & nephews were her pride and joy. I was one of the nieces that she babysat full-time, so we were very close and she made me feel like I was the apple of her eye.

When my mom got a divorce when I was 5 or 6, she and I moved a town away. Nana stayed with us during the week to help take care of me after school while my mom worked. She was older and retired/on disability, so her availability was a big blessing for my mom.

Some of my favorite memories of my Nana and me were walking from her apartment to the Subway down the street for lunch. We would also go to the library a lot. We rode the city bus and I loved pulling the string when she told me to, to let the driver know we were getting off at the next stop. I really value those experiences with public transportation and our local libraries now that I’m an adult.

I also got my love of animals from her, I think. That is really important now because I work for an animal shelter and I absolutely love it. On those library trips, she used to check out library books full of wildlife facts… and then hand-write them into notebooks so I could keep them. I still have notebooks to this day filled with just lists upon lists of animal information.

Nana never had a lot of money. I mentioned that she was on disability. I don’t know why, but I do know that things were always tight. She worked as a cook and a waitress most of her life. I wish I’d had time to ask her more about those things.

As a result, Nana never had life insurance or any kind of savings. She started having trouble with her heart and her circulation when I was a teenager, and by the time I was in my early 20’s she had to move in with my mom. Eventually one of her legs was amputated below the knee. She seemed to hate life after that. She was in constant phantom pain and just was not the same person. When the time came that they told her she’d need the other leg amputated, she refused. Said she would rather die than go through that again. I can’t say I blame her. Her biggest source of joy at that point was my daughter, Alexandria, who was born in 2015. Just like me when I was little, Alex (or “Ally” as Nana and my mom called her) was the light of her life.

On July 7, 2018, Nana passed away. I was pregnant with my second daughter, Elliott… but Nana never got to meet her. One of Elliott’s two middle names is Louisa: after Nana’s middle name, Lois (and also her paternal grandma’s middle name, Lou.)

Because Nana had no life insurance or savings, our family was left to cover the expenses. All her siblings were still living at that time and made it work. While some of it was paid for, I didn’t realize at the time that no headstone of any kind was included. Which brings me to this GoFundMe.

Almost 7 years later, Nana is still in a completely unmarked grave. I know approximately where she is, and I could go get a map from the cemetery office if we visit her during business hours but we often don’t. It might seem silly to care about a headstone, but I think I just worry she’ll be forgotten. ☹ My kiddos ask about her all the time and we go see her at least a couple times a year. I want to make sure they can always go visit her, too, with or without me.

Our family, including my husband and I, have been able to contribute some additional funds all these years later to get Nana a basic headstone. But we are still about $950 short of the $1800 needed. I would love to raise at least that amount to get her a headstone. If we want to get really crazy, my mom still owes about $3,000 on her funeral. She is on a very limited income herself and has still been paying for it monthly all this time. I’d love to be able to help relieve that burden for her, too.

Again, I know times are really tough for a lot of people right now. I already feel weird even asking for money for a woman who’s been gone for 7 years. But I want to make sure this gets done myself, in case something were to ever happen to me long before my time. It would just really help me sleep at night. Thank you all in advance. <3

Us at Aunt Charlotte's, Christmas 2006 or 2007 I think.