Nana Pita

My hero is Nana Pita. She is a good friend I met on Martha's Vineyard where I spend my summer. She is the grandmother of my neighbors, the Crisafullis. She is friendly, funny and a beautiful person inside and out. She makes the best out of everything. She is very nice to me. She makes me feel like I'm her granddaughter because she spends time and listens to what I have to say. She gives me advice and is always there when I need to talk. She lives in Rhode Island during the year and comes and visits Martha's Vineyard in the summer.

Her mother's name is Nanny J and is 94. She was diagnosed with breast cancer twice and lung cancer once. Her first diagnosis was when she was 18. She taught her daughter Nana Pita to be strong and a fighter in whatever she did. Nana Pita worked as a secretary at a bank for 10 years. She got married to a wonderful man named John who everyone calls "Pops". When their daughter Melissa was in middle school, Nana worked in the pub they opened. She was the manager and did the, book keeping and bar tending. They owned that for 8 years before they decided to sell it. She went to work for Wales University in the faculty payroll department. As she got older Melissa her daughter had kids and they brought her to their house in Martha's Vineyard . That is her favorite place to be. She has many hobbies including reading, suduko, and crossword puzzles.

This past summer Nana was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although I was worried I knew she was a fighter. She never complained she just went along with life as she did before. Her family and friends were always there to help and support her at all times. She was diagnosed with triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma. She had 6 months of chemotherapy. On January 2nd she had a double mastectomy and she is recovering now. There may be more chemo or radiation but we are not sure yet.

Nana never misses mass and is a strong believer in our blessed mother. She was lucky enough to receive a green scapula from a friend before finding out her tumor had shrunk. Yesterday we got the wonderful news that Nana is cancer free! Prayer, hope and love gave her the strength to get through this tough time and be a cancer survivor. I can't wait to see Nana this summer and giver her a big hug and tell her she is my hero!