Miriam G. Storey
Mom to Emilie, age 38, Alyson, age 36,
Jacob, age 34, Sara, age 30, Spencer,
age 29, and 13 grandchildren
Manassas, VA
So her daughter could pursue a
graduate degree, Miriam came out
of retirement to become a nanny
to four of her 13 grandchildren.

She loves being involved in
her grandchildren’s lives and
understands that both the role of
mother and grandmother involves
many hats.

Occupation Semi-retired; Currently being a
“granny nanny” to four of my beautiful
grandchildren What advice would you give to new
or expectant moms?
There are two things you give your
children: One is roots, the other is
wings. Instill a love of God and for all
mankind in their hearts and respect in
their actions. Teach children to work
hard and take pride in their work. Be
a good citizen. Don’t be afraid to put
away the electronics, disconnect, hug
and have fun.

How has motherhood changed your
outlook on life?
At a young age, I decided that I
wanted to be a mother. I viewed my
purpose as a mother higher than any
other position I could attain through
education. I suppose I was pretty naïve
at that time, but after a year of college I
became a mother and started my career
of raising children. As I raised five
children, I realized that teaching them,
reading with them, doing homework
24 May 2017 washingtonFAMILY.com
with them and supporting them in
their academics and activities, was
educating me in as many ways that
working in an occupation would have.

As a mother you become a counselor,
a teacher, a mentor, a chef, a coach,
a chauffer and driving instructor, a
doctor’s assistant, a dental assistant, a
librarian, an author, a mediator, a judge,
an accountant, a stylist and fashion
consultant, and other talents that moms
use daily in raising a family. I never
dreamed how much fulfillment I would
receive in life through my children and
the life lessons learned. For good or
bad, difficult or pleasant, my outlook
on life has been enhanced through
motherhood. How do you think your child(ren)
would describe you?
I think my children would describe
me as dedicated to family, fiercely loyal,
loving unconditionally, hardworking,
true to my faith, charitable, selfless,
intuitive, head strong and opinionated.

They would say that I taught them the
importance of leaving people/things/
places/situations better than how they
were found. I also hope that they would
say through life’s experiences, I’ve
learned how to love deeper, accept
changes and try to keep my opinions
more to myself!
What goals do you have for yourself?
One of my goals was to be able to
“grow-up” with my grandchildren. By
that I mean that I wanted to have my
children while I was young so that I
would still be relatively “young” enough
to be able to physically keep up with
my grandchildren and enjoy being
active with them. I wanted to be able
to wrestle, ride bikes, hike, run, swim,
jump on trampolines, jump rope, ride
our horses, play tennis or any other
activities they want to do.