For my Grandmother

She grew up as an only child. The only sibling she had was born years before she was and only lived an hour or two. Her playmates were her cousins and she envied their big families. She told me once that someone advised her not to have a family right away after she got married, so that she would have some time with her husband. She didn't listen.

She had been a beautiful young woman. She had dated quite a bit for a young lady who married at the age of 16. She had my father at 17 and a baby every two years thereafter until she had six children. At the sixth child (my aunt Edie) she paused for about 5 years and then had two more, again two years apart. The remarkable thing is that the doctor told her she shouldn't try to have anymore children after my father. She obviously didn't listen.

But she was worth listening to. Grandaddy died when I was six. I remember him being a very light-hearted sort of person. I always loved to stay at their house. Even after he died I loved to go to Grandma's. I remember her telling me one night when I was scared and couldn't sleep (I must have been about 8), that I shouldn't be afraid. She then showed me Psalms 4:8--"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." I have since remembered that verse so many times when I was scared or unsure. What a precious treasure to know that when I needed reassurance, Grandma taught me to turn to the Bible!

From an early age I could sit and talk with Grandma for hours. We never ran out of anything to talk about. I rarely agreed with her political views, but I always understood that her beliefs came from a pure heart.

She adored babies. She knew so much about them. Shortly after Laney was born, she showed up at my mother's one Sunday afternoon, just hoping to catch us there so she could hold the baby. It's one of the things I'll always treasure, that Laney was the youngest great-grandchild when Grandma died.

She had a way of loving a person so that they really felt loved. She didn't have to tell you she loved you, but she did. I was one of 20 grandchildren--I always felt like I was special. Fact is, we all did. She was that kind of person. She knew how to love people.

It's been almost a year now since we lost Grandma. She broke her hip and never recovered. She had remarried my senior year in high school and her husband stayed by her side to the very end. When we buried her next to my Grandfather, it was like he gave her back to him. It was a sweet transition, one I'll never forget.

I miss her and think of her every day. Her advice, and her love follow me even now. I hope that when I come to the end of my life, I can leave the kind of legacy she has.