Remembering Grandmother and the Prayers She Prayed
Our Grandmother was a gracious and loving woman who loved God first followed by her family. She lived each day on a path guided by her unshakable Faith. I speak on behalf of all 6 of her grandchildren when I say it was a honor and a privilege to call her Grandmother.
Grandmother embraced the role wholeheartedly. It was a role she was born to be. She was the light of our lives and we were the joy of hers.
Anyone who knew anything about our Grandmother knew that God & Church came first in her life and her #1 mission was to make it come first in the lives of each person in her family. My mom & Uncle Eddie would receive calls each Sunday making sure they were up and she would see them at church. When we went away to college, her #1 concern wasn’t our studies, but making sure we found a good church to attend. As children, I think it’s fair to say we looked more forward to gifts on our birthday from our Grandmother more than the card that accompanied it. As adults, those cards are some of our most treasured gifts. Grandmother always filled the front, back and usually inserts of note paper with words of love, hope, promise and prayer.
Grandmother made sure we knew that God was for us and with us always. She also let us know just how very much she and Paw Paw loved us. I know Grandmother prayed for each of us as well as her great grand-children well before we were born and daily throughout our lives. Many of her prayers have been answered in our lives and will continue to be answered because we know from her that prayers never die.
We used to go visiting (shut-ins and people at the nursing homes) with Grandmother and Susie every Wednesday before her choir practice. She would tell us before we went in the nursing home to not be scared…that we were making these people happy. We would go from room to room saying hello. Sometimes she would just sit and hold their hand. Sometimes she would sing their favorite hymn with them. But what I remember most was that before we left each room she would pray with them. Few things leave as lasting an impression as hearing someone genuinely intercede for others. In fact, prayer is one of the many spiritual inheritances we received from our Grandmother.
Next to God, family was most important to Grandmother. One thing you didn’t dare mess with was family traditions. There was no question where or what we’d be doing for birthdays, Christmas morning, Easter Sunday, 4th of July and Thanksgiving. We’d all be at Grandmothers and that is exactly where we wanted to be. Going to Grandmother's on Christmas morning was anticipated with excitement all year. She always made sure she had the exact number of presents for each of us and spent the exact amount (down to the penny) on each of us (something my mother has inherited from her). Grandmother made each of us feel like we were number one, no matter if she had one or all of us at a time. Because we were all number one to her.
We all looked forward to spending weekends with Grandmother and Paw Paw. Together, we have racked up thousands of hours at Sir Pizza & Maxway, eating tacos that she would pan fry and meticulously wrap each one individually, playing “I spy” in the bathroom, having our backs rubbed til we fell asleep, driving up & down the driveway well before having a legal license, dying Easter eggs, decorating the Christmas tree, and watching her favorite stories on her wooden box television. I’d love to hear what she would have to say about Dallas being back on air. She just thought JR was a nasty & hateful man. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out she prayed for his character.
We each have so many precious memories with our Grandmother and so many things that will forever remind us of her…
A lipstick kissed cheek, cardinals, hummingbirds & butterflies, precious moments, lighthouses, dogwood trees, chocolate ice cream, ½ piece of Wrigley’s gum, not to forget the numerous angel figurines and plaque prayers she has supplied each of us with over the years. Thanks to Grandmother, we had angles to keep in our pocket, ones to pin on our clothes, angels to clip on the visors in our car, and now one in Heaven.
It brings us great joy and peace to know she is heaven with Will, watching down on all of us. I’m sure she was pleasantly surprised to see him waiting at the gates to welcome her home. I wish she could have known all of her great-children and the ones to come, but now we have her in heaven and will see her prayers for them being answered for years to come.