It's with a very heavy heart that I share the passing of one of the first grandma bloggers I met online, soon after I began blogging in 2009.

Nina Knox was one of my first Grilled Grandmas. She was the consummate grandma, filled with grace and love. We shared blogging stories, tips, and ideas for quite some time, but in the past few years our connection faded. We were in some of the same blogging groups together, but never close.

I knew from being in a shared Facebook group that Nina unexpectedly became quite ill when visiting Hawaii in May. She was hospitalized for quite some time, seemed to improve a bit off and on, but never fully recovered. Sadly, it was on Facebook on September 24 that I learned Nina had passed away the previous day.

My sincere condolences go out to Nina's family and friends, some of whom may be regular readers of Grandma's Briefs. Nina was a loving woman to one and all, but her family and dear grandchildren were the bulk of her heart.

Here, in memory of Nina, is her Grilled Grandma feature, originally published December 16, 2009:

Grilled Grandma: Nina

How many children do you have?

Two sons, ages 28 and 27.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages?

I have two beautiful grandsons, ages 5 and 3, to my oldest son and wife and one gorgeous granddaughter, age 6 mos., to my youngest son and wife. Also just found out oldest son and wife are expecting their 3rd in July. We're very excited.

Any great grandchildren? Ages?

Not yet!

What do your grandchildren call you? The two boys call me Nina (my real first name). I referred to myself as "Grandma Nina" when they were babies because they had 6 grandmothers including greats and great greats. As they got a little older they couldn't say "Grandma" so they just stuck with "Nina". That's fine with me. When someone hears them call my name they are surprised, but we all think it's cute!

My youngest son refers to me as "Grammy Nina" with his daughter and what do you want to bet that "Nina" will stick with her too?

How often do you get to see your grandchildren?

The boys live in the same town so I see them several times a week, almost every day, but my granddaughter lives in Spokane, Washington, clear across the country. We've been out twice and they've been back home twice in the last six months. In fact, we just got back from Spokane last week and DIL and granddaughter will be home in January for 2 weeks while my son is away for work.

What is the best thing about being a grandma?

Everything! I have much more patience than I did as a mother. It is just the sweetest feeling to have these precious little kids run to you and hug you and tell you they love you. And the love my husband and I have for them is so amazing. I have a lot more fun being a grandma than I did being a mother.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma?

Not agreeing with something my son or DIL may say or do with the grandchildren and there is nothing I can do about it. I have a real hard time holding my tongue, but I work at it (most of the time).

Describe a recent time one or more of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud.

We were all sitting around and testing the 3 year old on his colors. We had him tell each of us what color our hair is. He was correct with black, brown, red, blond we had to explain, and then when we got around to my husband (Bobby, again Grandpa Bobby abbreviated) who has brown hair but now with quite a bit of gray, we expected him to say brown, but he said gray. We didn't think he would know gray and when Bob said, "yes, it's gray with brown", in his sweet little voice he said, "No Bobby, it's really gray" we all laughed so hard.

What is your favorite thing to do when your grandchildren visit your house?

We like to bake cookies together. The best cookies are chocolate chip and then when they are cooled down we put ice cream between two of them for ice cream sandwiches.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting their house?

We don't visit their houses that much, but when we do they usually show us any new toys or games or movies. I mostly just hold them and kiss them as much as I can.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren?

Any wisdom that we have so far. We are always talking to them about good from bad and right from wrong. We want them to feel a strong sense of love and family and develop a high self esteem.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you?

Happy

Visit Nina at her blog, Grandma Nina.

Nina began a new blog not long after her Grilled Grandma feature was published, Over50andHappy.com.

Rest in peace, sweet Nina.