#17 A Win for Nana

Jamie loved the county fair. As the fall leaves crunched underneath her feet and the smell of cotton candy waft through the air, she inhaled a big breath of fresh air. Most county fairs were in the summer, but Clyde County Fair was the last fair on the fair circuit and was held the last weekend in September through the first week of October. The weather was perfect, not too cold and not too hot!

As she approached the exhibit buildings she clutched the warm apple pie in her hands. She could almost taste the cinnamon as the aroma escaped the foil covering. This pie was special to Jamie, even more special than the fair.

Her Nana had been entering her very own award-winning apple pie in the Clyde County Fair for the past forty-nine years. She had actually taken home the blue ribbon for the last thirty-five of those forty-nine years too! Unfortunately Nana’s recent move to the local nursing home made it impossible for her to enter her pie for the 50th time.

“Losing my mind is one thing,” Nana had joked with Jamie a year ago as she put away her things in her nursing home room, “but losing my kitchen is quite another!”

Alzheimer’s disease is nothing to joke about, Jamie thought to herself. She remembered the sinking feeling in her heart when her mom explained it to her.

“Nana will never forget me,” she had screamed at her mom. But the tears running down her mother’s face told Jamie otherwise.

Jamie shoved those thoughts out of her mind. All that mattered right now was the pie in her hands and getting it inside the building safely.

Even though Nana struggled with Jamie’s name, and constantly called her by her mom’s name, Abby, she remembered every single detail of her apple pie recipe and recalled all the secret tips for making it the best pie ever.

“Make sure to toss your apples with the rest of the filling and let it sit overnight,” Nana had demanded. “Keep the crust ingredients cold, use chilled butter and ice water,” she added. “Use both McIntosh and Granny Smith apples.”

Nana had literally talked Jamie through the entire recipe, and Jamie took good notes.

“I’m going to make the best pie ever Nana,” Jamie had boasted.

“I’m sure you will, Abby,” Nana replied with a twinkle in her eye.

Jamie felt sad. She wanted to Nana to know it was her making the pie, not her mother. She wanted to Nana to realize that time wasn’t standing still; she wished things could be like they were before.

"Why do people have to get old?" she thought. "Why does Alzheimer’s have to exist anyway?"

These thoughts swirled in her mind as she reached the door to the Arts and Baking Building. She quickly filled out the paper, and handed her pie off to the nice lady in the blue sweater, who was probably older than Nana, but seemed to know everybody there. She obviously wasn’t suffering from any memory loss.

“Aren’t you Gail’s granddaughter?” she asked Jamie. “How is she doing? We miss her so much in our baking club! Is this her pie recipe?"

Jamie smiled. “She’s doing fine,” she answered. “Yes, this is her recipe, but I made it so it’s probably not very good. I did follow the directions to a T though.”

“Well I’m sure it’s delicious, and my name is Sally,” she replied.

“Thank you, I’m Jamie,” Jamie muttered back.

“The judging of the pies will begin shortly,” Sally turned and announced into a small microphone. Jamie took a seat in the participants' section and waited. A million memories flooded her mind, memories of Nana bringing her to the fair when she was younger, memories of eating corn-dogs and throwing balls at targets to win the giant teddy bear.

As Jamie watched the judges examine the pie crusts making sure they weren’t stuck to the bottom of the pans, she thought of the time Nana made a pie and forgot to turn the oven on. Looking back this was probably the beginning of her battle with Alzheimer’s, the terrible disease that Jamie hated most of all.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted with Sally’s voice announcing the winning pies.

“Our first place blue ribbon goes to….Jamie West!”

A wave of shock and excitement flooded over Jamie, not because she had won, but because she has learned something from Nana that Alzheimer’s couldn’t touch, something it could never take away. Jamie would always have a piece of Nana with her forever even after Nana was gone forever. Today had definitely become a WIN for Nana.