Nanni's Love by Michael
Michaelof Williamstown's entry into Varsity Tutor's October 2013 scholarship contest
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Nanni's Love by Michael - October 2013 Scholarship Essay
Outside of the classroom, I learned to not only live my life, but enjoy myself while living. I grew up with one of the coolest grandmom's ever. Mary Quagliato, who I called "Nanni", was a great person. I knew her until I was eleven years old. My time was cut short with her. I wish I could have spent more time with her. She was always a grandmom who could make you laugh. Everyone who knew Mary, loved her. She was so much fun to be around and had a great personality. She cared about everyone and hardly ever said a bad word about any person. She could find the good in anything or anyone. She was the type of grandmom who got down on the floor and played with the kids. It was like she was a little kid again. There was nothing more enjoyable to her than playing with the grandkids. My grandmother loved baseball. She watched the grandkids play and she loved the Philadelphia Phillies. She watched any came that she could and loved the sport. It was pretty ironic when she came down with Lou Gehrig's disease. How could someone who loved baseball so much end up with a disease that was named after a baseball player. It seemed downright cruel. Lou Gehrig's disease is the loss of muscles. You eventually lose the muscle and it atrophies. She started out with losing muscle in her right hand. This made life in general difficult because she was right handed. She never complained the entire time she had the disease. She lived for 8 years with the disease, when most people only survive 3 to 5. She still found a way to make the most out of her life. She found different ways to use parts of her body as she continued to fail over the years. You would always see her with a smile on her face and she always laughed. My family and I were mad that such a good person was punished with such a horrible disease. She lived at home with a nurse until the end. As things got worse, I entertained her and spent every Sunday with her. She never let the disease get to her until it took her at the end. She still wanted to see her grandkids and she still had fun. She taught me a lot of things. She taught me how to live each day at the fullest. You never know how long someone is going to be in your life, so you need to make the most of the time you have with them. She taught me how to fight for something when you really want it. She wanted to live so she fought every day until she could fight no more. She taught me not to have high expectations so that I can't be disappointed. Do fun things with friends and family and enjoy life. I will always treasure my Nanni and the memories that we shared together.