My Tribute

My sweet Grams went home to our Lord in Heaven Wednesday afternoon.  She lived a long, full life and left a legacy that will not be soon forgotten.  I am so grateful for the 23 1/2 years I was blessed to have her on Earth.  Now I have another guardian angel and she’s able to finally tell Daddy’s parents what it was like to be my Grandmother.

I didn’t get the opportunity to have two sets of Grandparents on Earth, so I was blessed with the very best set of Grandparents a girl could wish for.  From six weeks of age, I stayed with Grams almost every day while Mom and Dad worked.  Grandaddy came home to visit at lunch time, but most of the days were Grams and Katie time.  I even had a crib in Gram’s basement so she could sew while watching me.  I spent so much time in that basement as a child.  She would sew and I would visit with everyone who came for alterations while also watching tv and laying on the deep freeze (something Mom and her sister were never allowed to do as children—what Granddaughters get away with!).

No offense to Mom, but I feel like almost everything I know about cooking is because of Grams.  I can’t remember a time that I didn’t know how to make toast or scrambled eggs.  We made cheese straws together and I remember how proud I was of my first pound cake made from Gram’s recipe.  We made caramel cake together and Aunt Loverta’s chocolate icing.  She taught me how to make my favorite chicken with white sauce and her “rounds” and sometimes there’s nothing I want more than her version of boxed macaroni and cheese.  She would fry me an entire pound of bacon, but would make me eat bread or crackers so I wasn’t just eating bacon for a meal.  I never quite mastered fried chicken like hers.  Something about my breading just isn’t right.  I guess practice will have to make perfect.

I can’t sew that well, but thankfully, Mom can, so some of Gram’s skills will hopefully still be passed on to me.  I want to learn to make simple valances for my new home (once I pick it out) and I need to learn to hem my own pants.  Unfortunately, I never learned to crochet.  I think that particular skill passed on with Grams.  I don’t think I would have had the patience anyway.

Grams took me to school and picked me up every day (except Daddy’s Grandmother’s two days a week to bring me home in the afternoon) from Kindergarten to 5th grade.  I could always count on the “purple” Park Avenue being there waiting for me in the afternoons. 

Grams could grow practically anything imaginable.  Over the past few days, the plants and flowers around town have been much more apparent to me.  I think Grams is making them a little prettier than usual to tell me she’s ok.  I’m hoping to get a few cuttings of her plants one day and to try to continue her legacy.

Grams and Grandaddy were married for 65 years.  That alone is a remarkable achievement.  I know marriage is difficult, but they were able to make it work.  I said many times that there is nothing cuter than an old couple who still love each other.  Grandaddy looked so precious when he would kiss Grams and she lit up at the sight of him.  I hope I am blessed with the kind of love they shared (and I believe continue to share—death is not an end to love).

My Grams was a remarkable person—not perfect—but a loving, God-fearing woman.  I have no doubts about where she is because the Bible tells us that those who love the Lord, accept him, and ask him into their heart will be rewarded with Eternal Life.  That knowledge helps me to get up each day and put one foot in front of the other.

I love you Grams…until then…