Nana Biography

So I was determined to punish them.  I told them I was going to become a nun. I can remember doing this to torture my parents, but somehow or other I think that my mother was cleverer than I realized, because she never let this bother her.   I mean, she never let me think this was bothering her. I used to do things like lying down on the floor as though I were dead to get attention, and She would just step over me and go on. What I hoped was that she would come and say, "Oh my god, what's happened?"

How did you feel when she didn't?

It was a disappointment to me, I guess. I was in an attention getter, I was always showing off, I can remember all these things, I can remember getting on my pony on Sunday when they were out on the porch and showing off, and riding around picking things up off the ground while the pony was running and watch me business

Did she pay much attention?

Yes, I got a lot of attention then. I think I was spoiled, I wrote a horse very well, which my  stepfather was terribly proud of. I rode in horse shows. I was the best rider for my age around there. I Fox hunted and played Polo and did all that.

How old was that?

I was 12 years old when they sent me to the convent.  They only sent me one year.   My brother was then getting to be a little boy of  four or five.   

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