Memories of Grandma Nellie

Nellie Bellezora Rees was my grandmother. My dad, William Sturgeon Gillis, Jr. was her son. Grandma Nellie was 74 when I was born; she lived to be 93. I never knew much about her earlier life. Recently, my sister shared with me a few of her memories. My sister is 24 years older than me, so her view goes further back. I’ll start off with a few of my memories and then share my sister’s recollections.

When I was growing up in Miami, we used to visit Grandma Nellie in her Jensen Beach home. Her house was right on Indian River Drive. The river and her fishing dock were across the street. I recall many childhood hours fishing there. Just down the road was a causeway bridge that led to the beach on Hutchinson Island. I remember visiting a sea turtle refuge on the island and spending lots of fun days at the beach.

In Grandma Nellie’s backyard, too close for comfort, were the train tracks right behind a large grapefruit tree. Because the house was outside of town, the train went through at high speed. It shook the whole house. Her guest bedroom had two high windows that looked onto the tracks.

When my nephew and niece and I were elementary school age, we would visit Grandma Nellie and pretend we were part of Batman’s team, jumping up to spy through the high windows (our periscopes) to see if The Riddler or Mr. Freeze were riding on the screeching train whenever we heard the rumble getting closer. It was very exciting for us as kids. I’m sure the adults were less thrilled about the disruption or the possible danger of a train thundering by at high speed that close to the house.

Grandma Nellie had a huge screened-in porch, where the family spent many evenings visiting. She kept a barrel of in-the-shell peanuts on the porch. Whenever a squirrel would approach, my dad would help me open the screen door just a tad, so I could hand the squirrel one of the peanuts, then watch it scramble back up one of the palmetto trees, sit on the bark, open the shell, and eat the peanut.

When I was really young, Grandma Nellie would sometimes visit us in Miami. She would stay at my Aunt Florence and Uncle Mac’s house. Eventually, Grandma Nellie developed Parkinson’s disease, moved around with a walker, and wasn’t able to live on her own. Florence and Mac decided to move to Jensen Beach so they could care for her. They built a house at the front of her property.

Even after we moved from Miami to Maitland during my teen years, we would often drive down on the weekend and stay with them. My biggest memories of those visits were the perpetual card games we played (Uno, Nertz) and gazing out the front window at night, where the moon shone on the Indian River. To this day, I love seeing pictures of moonlight on the water.

As a child, I didn’t have much interaction with Grandma Nellie. We only saw her once a month. Even before she developed Parkinson’s, the age difference was pretty big, considering that even my dad was old enough to be my grandfather. So, I understand why she didn’t jump into the midst of us wild kids running around.

Uncle Mac, her son-in-law, was more of the “hang out with the kids” type, and he was amazing. We all enjoyed visiting with him, as he joined in our rambunctious outdoor games, took us fishing and boating, and sang wacky songs.

Recently, I asked my sister, who is 24 years older, to tell me more about what Grandma Nellie was like before I came along. She couldn’t recall a lot of specifics, but she gave me some gems that I’d like to share here.

My sister remembers Grandma Nellie as a smiler and laugher. She had a house in Little River, Miami on several acres. Her husband, William Sturgeon Gillis, Sr., known to the family as Paw Paw, worked in real estate. When my sister was growing up in Miami, they went to Sunday dinner at Grandma Nellie’s house every week.

Grandma Nellie and Paw Paw’s house was a boarding house. They had roomers living upstairs. My sister remembers cleaning out the toilets as her chore at five years old. She also remembers that Grandma Nellie worked at a bakery. My sister told me that she also grew up in a boarding house; that was the house of my dad and his first wife. My sister grew up sleeping in a bed out on the covered, closed-in porch, so the indoor rooms could be used for boarders. What a different life!

My sister and her cousin, Aileen (Florence and Mac’s daughter), used to put Paw Paw’s hair in rollers many times to curl it, and then they dried and fluffed it. He loved it. He used to laugh a lot.

I’m so grateful my sister was able to share those memories of Grandma Nellie and Paw Paw.