Tu-Na?

25 Replies

April 22, 2016

The story behind Tu-Na originated last fall when I asked my five year old grandson, “What do you call me?” “Nana” he replied. I turned to my four year old grandson, seated across the table from him and asked  “What do you call me?” “Tutu” he replied. “So,” I asked, “What should the new baby call me?” as I pointed to my newest grandson being held by his mother. After a couple of seconds, my five year old grandson’s face brightened and he exclaimed “Tu-Na.” It was priceless!

While none of the boys call me Tu-Na as they each have their own names for me, the name is cute because of how it started. I wasn’t ready to be called grandma when the oldest was born so Nana seemed like a good idea. When the second grandson came along his mother didn’t want him calling me a name that is so close to banana that most kids say nana for anyway. Since my husband and I had just returned from a trip to Hawaii and learned that Tutu is Hawaiian for grandmother, that word seemed like a good idea.

This blog will be a document of my journey as Tu-Na and will feature the things I love. Although it will mostly feature my quilting experiences, I plan to sprinkle in some of my other life passions such as traveling and cooking/baking.

Having spent years raising four sons and a daughter in the lovely state of North Dakota, I rejoined the work force only to decide to retire and concentrate on doing the things I really enjoy. Join me as I quilt, travel, and eat.

 

25 thoughts on “Tu-Na?”

  1. Sandra

    I LOVE this story, Karen, loved it the first time you told me, and love reading it here again. That giraffe quilt is pretty adorable! Welcome to the wonderful world of QBL, and I look forward to following you on your quilty, foody and travelly adventures! (trippy might have the wrong connotation just sayin’ lol) 🙂

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  2. Kate Heads

    Hi Karen, Just clicked through from the 2016 New Quilt Bloggers group. I love your story and you have made a lovely quilt. I’ve only been blogging since January and I know a couple of the others started after me. It will be fun learning together.
    Smiles
    Kate

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  3. lapaylor

    The email button at the bottom is for emailing this to another person I think,
    Love your style. LeeAnna

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  10. Deborah Brock

    A cute story – i teared up. Honestly i thought tu na came (somehow) from Tula in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Please don’t asky me why. I believe the connection is from the sound of the two words.
    My kids called my mom Nana and so Nana has a very special and heartfelt connection. I hope i will be called Nana.
    You are such a great storyteller Karen – keep it up. I look forward to reading all your blg additions.

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  14. Susan Shaw

    I enjoyed the story of Tu-Na. My oldest grandson calls me Ga. I guess many children call grandfahers Pa and he just assimilated Grandma into Ga. Now ten years later, my son (his dad) has a daughter who is living in the house with us (son and me) and she calls me Ga. My daughter’s boys each have a different name for me. The older one calls me Grandma Susan. When my daughter was prepping them for a visit from me, the little guy just could not get Grandma Susan out. Then she told him Grandma Sudie and that stuck. My dad called me Sudie. I never thought after working as a computer programmer / system, web tester; surviving a horrific divorce; surviving breast cancer and being diagnosed with fibromyalgia six weeks later; remarrying and losing that husband, and having to retire early due to health that my house would again be filled with the sounds of love. Then again, I didn’t think that I would be in the throes of potty training, especially with a child who just doesn’t seem to care most of the time. It just depends on her mood. Thanks for the lovely pattern for the coneflower. I had noticed the giraffe pattern in your header. Then I saw it in your profile. We used to each have an animal name when our children were young. The kids’ dad was the giraffe because he is 6’7″.

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