My+Nan+-+The+Super+Hero

**MY NAN – THE SUPER HERO** As part of our response to prompts for ECL we were asked to create a super hero narrative and explain the process of how we came up with the ideas, organised them and the editing process. Below is my story called "My Nan - The Super Hero"  I found this cartoon and it made me giggle and think of the women who inspired the story - I am sure that it would make them giggle too!



To people who don't know her, my Nan might look like your average, everyday, garden variety Nana. She is old, has grey hair, wears glasses, is a little bit deaf and has a walking frame, but that is where the similarities end! Nan is 93 and we are all convinced that she will live to be 100, even though Nan tells us “don't get your hopes up”, all with a twinkle in her eye – knowing full well that she will live to be 110! Everything about my Nan is just a little bit different. Even Nan's grey hair has a stripe of red in it, which she laughs and says is her way of “hanging on to her youth”. When Nan was young she had lovely long, curly reddy-brown hair, which everyone says looked just like mine. Nan's eye sight and hearing may be a little bit, as she puts it “on the blink”, but with her purple and orange framed glasses she is still able to create beautiful garden sculptures and paint amazing pictures. As for Nan's lack of hearing however, I am not that convinced. She can still hear everything that I don't want her to hear – even when I mumble under my breath. Lots of people ask Nan what her secret is to such a long and happy life. Nan puts it down to three things: Nan walks everyday, sometimes three times a day. She says “Keep it simple. You don't have to bust a gut. God gave you two legs – just use them!”   Nan also loves swimming. She taught me to swim and now I love it too. At Christmas it was so hot! As Nan describes it, it was “100 degrees in the shade!”. We were all at my aunt Sally's house swimming in her pool. Nan was sitting on a deck chair just watching, when all of a sudden, she leaped out of her chair and did a massive bomb, clothes and all, into the pool! All the adults were in a flap (I think they were worried about her because she is so old) but all of her grandchildren just laughed and splashed with Nan, because we all know that she is the best swimmer ever and that in her day she would have given Thorpey a run for his money. For as long as Nan can remember she has kick started her day with a great big bowl of All Bran. Nan proudly proclaims at every chance she gets “It keeps me regular!” to which I reply “Gross Nan, too much information!”. Nan also loves vitamins. She buys truck loads of them. She has every colour of the rainbow, big ones, small ones and ones that stink – but she swallows them all down, everyday, without fail.  My Mum always laughs at Nan's Step 3. Nan has 12 children, which flabbergasts and amazes Mum, “12 kids – imagine 12 kids. Talk about keep busy!” My Mum has enough trouble keeping up with me, and I'm an only child. Not only does Nan have 12 children, she also has 19 grandchildren, with one on the way. Even though there are so many of us, she always has time for all of us and even remembers all of our names. Granted she may rattle off a few of my cousins names before she finally gets to mine – but she always gets it in the end. No signs of Alzheimer's for my Nan! <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">Nan is still “as fit as a Malley Bull and strong as an ox” but she has slowed down a little bit. Since Pop died last year, Nan has moved into Barongarook Gardens which, although she hates to admit it is an old person home. “Old persons home! But I'm not old!” Nan carries on a bit, but really she loves it. She has lots of mates there and we visit her all the time. With such a large family there is always someone visiting her. Sometimes you have to wait for people to leave before you can squeeze into her room, Nan jokes and says “Standing room only. It's hard to be popular!”  <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif"> On Wednesday I went to visit Nan. Mum dropped me off and then she went to do some shopping. Nan was sick of being cooped up inside so we decided to go for a walk and get some fresh air. Nan sat me on her walking frame to give me a ride. I love going for a spin on Nan's walker she has even “hotted it up” by painting a flame down the side and attaching her ipod to pump out the latest tunes – Nan is right up with all the modern technology! “Where do you want to go?” she asked. “There is still plenty of go in these legs yet!” “Lets go to the corner shop” I suggested. “Great idea. Let's do it!” So off we went. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif"> We were lined up at the counter, ready to pay for our lollies (not really part of Nan's eat well regime, but everything in moderation) when all of a sudden in burst a man wearing a balaclava and waving a gun in the air like a mad man. “Give us all your money” he shouted at the man behind the counter. The shopkeeper quickly gave the man all the money from the cash register. Then the man turned towards Nan and I. “You too old girl. Give me all your money or the kid gets it!” O Oh, I thought to myself. I almost felt sorry for him. I am sure he thought that Nan was going to be a push over, with her grey hair, glasses and walking frame – but not my Nan. I forgot to mention that as part of Nan's keep fit step, to a long and happy life, she also has a black belt in Karatee! Without saying a word, Nan flung her walking frame out of the way, grabbed the man by the arm holding the gun, twisted it up behind his back, flipped him over her shoulder and then pinned him to the floor! Meanwhile the shopkeeper had called the Police, who arrived just in time to find the man begging for mercy and pleading for Nan to stop hurting him. Nan handed him over to the Police, stood up, brushed her hands off and said “That will teach him for calling me old girl!”  <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif"> And that's my Nan. The coolest person I know and definitely a super hero in my eyes. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">THE END  <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif"> I decided to base my story on influential women in my life who I have looked up to and admired. These being my mum and two grandmothers and my husband Sean's mother and his grandmother. I have decided to write this story from the point of view of my son (although he is much older in the story than he currently is now). I have tried to use a fairly simple narrative language to give the impression that it is being told from the point of view of a child. Nan's character has been loosely based on a combination of all of the above women. I have taken qualities and characteristics of all five women to create a “super Nan”. A lot of the story is based on real events with some exaggerations eg the ending! <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">My own Nana who is in her 80's really did do a bomb in her clothes at Christmas! <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">My mothers mum was a very health conscious person who loved vitamins and All Bran. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">My mum is very creative and really does wear purple and orange glasses and has been know to have very strange hair colour – very much hanging on to her youth! <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">Sean is one of 12 and we have 18 nephews and nieces with one on way – Sean's mother really does flabbergast and amaze me that she had, and still has, the energy for such a large family. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">Sean's Nana has only recently gone into a retirement home at the age of 93 and is as sharp as a whip her memory is better than mine by far. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif"> As far as the writing process for this piece goes – I am by no means a creative writer and find this style of writing very challenging. I began by working out the characteristics for the main character by writing dot points about each of the women above and then basically wrote the story combining these dot points together. When I write I have to hand write any first draft. I find it much easier to physically write with a pen than to type directly – I find that my writing flows more easily by hand writing it. Once I have a very rough hand written piece I then type this draft adding more to the base structure as I go. Technically the above is a “second draft” because my hand written “first draft” version is a mess! Lots of scribble, astrix marks to remind me to elaborate or add more when I go back over it and arrows to move paragraphs or sentences as I go. I cant help but to edit and draft as I go and chop and change. I am constantly rereading what I have written before I go on with the next paragraph to make sure that it is making sense and is in the order of how I want it. Spelling and grammar are a huge issue of mine and I have always struggled with these and I am sure that when I attempt my next draft there will be improvements to be made in these areas. Even though the above is more of a second draft there are still plenty of changes that I would like to make for next week.
 * 1) <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">Keeping Fit
 * 1) <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">Eat Well
 * 1) <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif">Keep Busy and Have Fun