“Gama”

Nellie “Gama” Lanyon Johns left us on August 10, 1972. I was lucky to have had her and my grandfather living with us while I was growing up.

Gama (rhymes with “Mama”) was a large-boned, outspoken farm woman who moved to California in the 1930s after living in Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. I remember her always wearing the latest fashions, including a hat, purse, gloves, fine jewelry, and even dress boots if the occasion called for them.

I still miss her wrapping tiny, timid me in her strong, ample arms, creating an enormous cocoon to comfort and protect me. Both my parents worked, so Gama would have dinner on the table every evening when they came home. She and my grandfather were the ones who greeted me when I came home from school. To this day, whenever I smell Ponds cold cream or lavender, Gama comes flooding back–which is daily.

Gama, I still love you and miss you. You are forever in my heart.