The Celebration of a Wonderful Life

 Today, we would have been celebrating my Grandmommy's 87th birthday.  My students keep asking for me to bring in some pictures.  So here are a few of the lady that impacted my life in more ways than just one.  Here is to the best friend a little girl could have ever asked for...

Hard to believe, but that little blondie is me!

Most of the cousins with Grandmommy, Aunt Belle, and my Mommy.

Happy 84th birthday.

My sisters and me with Grandmommy.

My side of the family at our wedding last August.

My last picture with my Grandmommy.

 
Here are a few memories of my sweet Grandmommy:

Grandmommy always had a sound reason why we should or shouldn’t do something, and it never failed that her joyful twist would be added at the end.  For example when I was learning to drive, she was brave enough to let me drive her car and be in it.  She told me that I needed to get in the lane I needed be in and stay there.  Even if that meant that it would take longer because of traffic to get there.  She would tell me that patience is a virtue and then she would chuckle… “On top of that you would be less likely to get in a wreck.”

For Grandmommy tears were easy to fix, just hop in her lap and with in moments they were all dried up, which of course was soon to be followed by a bowl of vanilla ice-cream with Hershey’s chocolate syrup and a cherry.  Of which we always ate the cherry first then we would mash up the ice-cream to make our own version of chocolate ice-cream that was actually more like a milkshake once we were done.

Grandmommy taught me how to fix things.  Which usually consisted of me watching her fix it.  Until later when she needed my help and I would show her how to fix things and she would watch to make sure I was doing it right.

Grandmommy taught me the importance of family.  That you are never too busy to help someone in your family; and if you are too busy, well you better just make time to help them anyway.  There are so many life lessons that we have been able to learn from Grandmommy.  It was just who she was.  Her love and devotion to family was unbelievable.  As we grew up and learned more about Christ it was evident to each of us as her grandchildren that was just who she was, a follower of Christ.  Her life was a quiet steady example of faith in Him.

I will always have fond memories of us in the kitchen.  Grandmommy helped me learn how to make many things from fried okra to cookies.  She let me come over and destroy her kitchen to learn how to make my first birthday cake from scratch, for my mom.  We also spent lots of time together playing with everything in her china cabinet.  I remember how we would take out everything in the china cabinet and recreate her last minute dinner parties.  She would always say, "Keep in mind that your Granddaddy would call me when he was headed home and that guest were arriving with him."  She always had s steady grace about her that never let you know anything might have been rushed or unplanned.

Grandmommy’s opinion was always very important to me, and I asked her what she thought of Cameron.  She told me that he was a very nice young man, and that if for some reason we were to no longer be seeing each other…she would adopt him and I would be stuck with him anyway.  That was her way of telling me that she approved, and later welcomed Cameron into the family.  Of course, the rest is history now.