The Grandmother Effect: A Mother’s Day Reflection (Pt 1)
While each family story is unique, the threads that connect generations often weave similar patterns in all our lives. As I share my memories of Nanna in this two-part series, I invite you to reflect on your own family influences—those quiet anchors who shaped your world, perhaps in ways you’re still discovering.
The most profound influences in our lives are often the ones we take for granted at the time.
Television Nights and Family Traditions
When television first flickered to life across Australia, it was Nanna’s living room that became our family theatre. Those Friday nights remain etched in my memory—the whole family gathered around her television set, laughing at the antics on the Mavis Bramston Show or whatever program had captured the nation’s attention that season. Afterward, my parents would bundle us sleepy children into the car for the hour journey home, often in the freezing cold of winter.
Sundays often meant adventures to the seaside towns of Redcliffe or Sandgate in Brisbane, where we sat on the old stone walls beside the sea and unwrapped our fish and chips and slurped on bottles of Fanta.
Those same afternoons, we paddled in the shallow water, chasing tiny crabs that scuttled away to hide in the sand, while Nanna watched and chatted with Mum.
From Childhood to Character
What strikes me now is how these seemingly ordinary moments—Friday television gatherings and Sunday fish and chips—became the foundation of my sense of family and belonging. These weren’t grand gestures or expensive outings, just consistent presence and shared time.
Her role in my life transcended ordinary grandparenting. When Mother’s Day came around at school, my clumsy hands would craft not one but two cards—one for Mum and one for Nanna. Both women were pillars in my world, equally deserving of celebration.
When she passed during my young adulthood, it felt as though a light had dimmed, leaving my world just a bit darker, a bit colder than before.
In fact, Nanna’s spirit flows through my character, Lil, in “The Dear Viv Letters”—her wisdom, her warmth, her particular way of seeing the world transferred to the page in an homage I hope would make her proud.
The waterfront in Redcliffe, Brisbane that features in my stories, directly echo those Sunday afternoons, creating a fictional guest house from the memories of my childhood.
I know not every family is blessed with such bonds and I hold my memories of her with profound gratitude. Her influence shaped who I am in countless ways, some I’m still discovering.
That’s why, each Mother’s Day, I find myself lost in reflection—remembering her hands (I have her hands), her laugh, her wisdom—and counting the many ways her love and influence continues to echo through my life, even now.
We carry the best parts of those who loved us, sometimes without even realising it.
Who shaped your childhood in meaningful ways? I’d love to hear about your special person in the comments below.
In Part 2 of this series (coming Thursday), I’ll share how we can all discover the “Nanna effect” in our own lives and creative work—plus practical ways to honour those influences and pass them forward.
