Mother's Day.....by Mommy 1

My first memory was of my grandmother. I was three or four years old and I was to meet my grandmother for the first time in my memory. I called her Grandmother and I believe she came on the bus from her home in the mountains of Northeast Alabama to our home in North Carolina. I remember waiting impatiently for her to arrive. When she come into our living room, I brought my baby dolls to sit in her lap. I was in awe at the looks of her. She was my mama's mama, but so different. Her hands were covered in velvety wrinkles and she was much smaller than I thought she would be. Little did I know she had come to our home to die. Even at this first meeting, she was frail enough that she needed to rest before she even learned the names of all the dollies in her lap.

I don't know how long she lived after coming to our home, but in the spring (I believe) she died. My mom says she died gently and peacefully in her sleep in our spare room. I wasn't really aware of how her illness was progressing until my daddy pulled me aside and told me that Grandmother was gone. I remember some gentle sadness and a little feeling of loss, but a certainty that Grandmother had gone to Heaven and that we would see her again. Her death though raw and agonizing for my mother and aunt, was soft and velvety like Grandmother's hands for me. I revisit that memory sometimes because it is precious to me. I only had my grandmother for less than a year, but it changed me. What a powerful thing is a grandmother!

My mom has been a longer influence on my children. Though we have not always lived close together, she has always had her heart available to all of her grandchildren. She is the kind of grandmother whose adult grandchildren crave time with her. She is a sage of sorts, sharing our very personal history and truths from God's word. My children all would love to have time over a cup of tea or coffee with Grannie every day. Perhaps they will get their chance. She is planning to come and spend the summer with us. We are all excited, but I am the most excited. Three months with my mama! What a great anticipation is building  in our home.

My mother was a wonderful mom, but she became a spectacular  grandmother. It is generally accepted that Granny is the kind of grandmother that the rest of us long to be. On mother's day, I would like to thank my mom for putting up with me and all my strange and wild ideas! For loving her parents and her husband by which I learned a lot about loving people, Thanks Mom and Grandmother for all you did for the husbands and children in your lives. Mom, you are such a lively link to my past that I believe it wouldn't have been possible to have been me without your weaving in the history of our family in with our everyday visits.

Mothers, Grandmothers, Great Grandmothers, what a handsome chain of love, wisdom and care has been forged by your daily selfless acts, your unashamed devotion and your love for your children and grandchildren
                                                                                                                                      
I am grateful for my wonderful mother and the long line of God fearing women who came before me.
Thank you Lord.
                                                                    

My Maternal Grandparents,

my mom and her little sister,