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Showing posts with label nanny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nanny. Show all posts

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Still miss her

March 29, 2011 will mark two years since my sweet grandmother died.
This time of the year seems to bring back memories of her... Memories of her Spring garden, memories of her on her death bed, memories of her love for Spring, memories of her funeral.
 I have a mix of emotions... The happiness of Spring plus the sadness of her passing.  

I still miss Nanny a lot. I guess I always will.
I was lucky to get to live right next door to her and learn so much from her.
She was such a blessing in my life, and I'm so glad I got to know her for 20 years.
I just wish I'd gotten to know her for 40 years instead.





Mary, Grandaddy, Nanny, Me, Emily and Baby Bryan before prom in 2006.


Nanny sure did keep Granddaddy in shape. He looks so skinny here!


Psalm 115:16 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints."

Monday, March 29, 2010

She....

She was wise, the wisest woman I knew.
She was devoted, devoted to her family, her faith, and her ministry.
She was giving. She gave, and gave, and gave.
She was passionate—passionate about loving the unlovable.
She was easygoing, the little things never really bothered her.
She was interested. Interested in all kinds of people.
She was a friend. So many women considered her their best friend.
She was strong. So scared of needles, yet so strong throughout her illness.
She was optimistic… most of the time :)
She was respectable. I took to heart everything she said.
She was funny. She always made us laugh.

She not only was these things, she acted on these things.

She laughed—usually at herself.
She shared—time, money, prayers, insight.
She listened—to me, to the stranger down the road, to her husband.
She taught—taught by example: to love, to laugh, to be compassionate.
She cared—about the people who weren’t cared for.
She prayed—always prayed for even the details of my life.
She forgave—quickly, even the people who took advantage of her
She sacrificed—her life for less fortunate.
She encouraged—in the dark times, in the happy times, all the time
She loved—she loved me, she loved them, she loved Him—it was evident.

She was an amazing grandmother.
She was a blessing in my life. A friend to me for 20 years of my life.

She’s been in Heaven for one year, today.
She’s still being thought of often.
She’s still making an impact on many lives.
She’s still living through many people.

She’s celebrating.
She’s singing with joy right now.
She’s praising Him.
She’s talking to Jesus face-to-face.
She’s enjoying herself in every way.
She’s just flat-out having fun.

She is missed—by me, her children, her husband, her friends.


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Thankful in a Different Way

This is what I'm so thankful for today:


This is my family.

And I absolutely love them.

I wish we had a closer picture so you could see their faces, but you get the picture.

I will be seeing each of them this week except for my grandmother who passed away in March. This will be a sad holiday for that reason, yet happy because my family is still together and getting along. She did a good job at raising her 5 kids to be respectful and get along with one another.

I have been so blessed with a wonderful immediate family and a wonderful big family too--cousins who I have so much fun with, an amazing grandmother, an incredibly sweet grandfather-- just lots of Godly people.

So, this Thanksgiving I want to be thankful for what I still have here on earth, my family, as we celebrate the fact that Nanny is having the best Thanksgiving she's ever had in Heaven.

She gave me the best Thanksgiving that I have ever had last year when she miraculously got up from her bed after being there for 40 days, and she walked alone and then joined us at the table for lunch. I am thankful for those happy holiday memories with her that I wouldn't give up for anything. I am thankful that our family can remember her together with tears and with laughter.

It's a day to be thankful--thankful for the things that you wouldn't always think you could be thankful for, like the death of a dearly loved grandmother and friend. If I can't yet bring myself to be completely thankful for her death, I can be thankful that she is with Jesus, that I got to have her for 20 years in my life, and that she was the foundation for this close family that I have been blessed with.

So there we go, it's a start. I'm thankful in a different way this year. It's harder to be thankful, so it's different, but I'm thankful all the more.

"Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Weather: Break or Make my Day?

It is Thankful Day Twelve!

Today I am especially thankful for the weather. The weather can make or break me. I think I've mentioned that before, but really, if I wake up to a cloudy, rainy, cold day, I have a hard time enjoying that day. I need to work on that, I know.

At any rate, I'm sitting outside right now, in the middle of November in Tennessee, in a sweater-type thing. You might actually make fun of what I'm wearing and call it a granny jacket (it actually was my grandmother's). But I don't care; it's comfortable.

(I was thinking the camera came out the other side of the computer, like a phone, so I thought I was taking a picture of the view from my balcony but it ended up being me... in my granny jacket.)

My point being is that my sweater is very light-weight and that I feel perfect out here on my balcony. Not too cold, not too hot.


And my view on this beautiful day, well, it is awesome. This is the hill that I look at each and every day that I spend here in Cuetee (my apartment complex). I look at this hill longing for the desire to walk up it for exercise, but I've only had that desire once while living here and let's just say that I had to wash my jeans and my shirt sleeves after scooting walking down.

So anyways, thank you God for these amazingly beautiful days you have given us in November. And I pray for many more to come. Please!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Sobbing Scenes: Story of my life.

I stayed up really late last night because I thought I could sleep in today. It was my first day to sleep in because each day I've gotten up to go to Granddaddy's. I was so looking forward to getting some sleep. So 8:25 rolls around this morning and my phone rings. I open it because I think it's my alarm clock and am going to turn it off and I see it's my dad calling. I immediately regret opening it because now I had to answer. He was at work and he locked his keys in his car that was parked directly behind his other car which was directly behind his tractor at work so he couldn't get home or get anything done with everything blocking everything.... So I had to half-sleepingly drive 45 minutes to his work and then back 45 minutes in my pj's with no makeup and a retainer in. I got home at 10:30, went straight back to bed until 12:00.


There was a Student Venture banquet tonight that was a fundraiser for the Chattanooga Student Venture. Nanny and Granddaddy were a big part of Student Venture and they actually got it started in Chatt-town, so tonight the family was invited to the banquet and it was a tribute to my grandmother. I went thinking that it'd mostly be a fundraiser with a little talk about Nanny and Granddaddy, but not a big deal. I was wrong. Darryl talked for about 10 minutes about her (Hebrews 11:4-"through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.") and I was pretty okay during that part, you know, not making a crying scene or anything as the family was sitting front and center of the couple hundred.

But then came the SLIDE SHOW. And the second he said there was going to be a slide show with music, I knew it was all over (it was terrible, not the slide show, but me.) Today, Mary and I had been going through all of her letters and bible notes, so she was very fresh on my mind. Therefore, Mary and I pretty much made a scene with our loud sobbing. That's always a good way to be remembered. I had to go out to gather myself in the bathroom. I pretty much never cry like that in front of my family at home, yet I break down at the dry cleaners, in front of random old women, or at a banquet. That makes a whole lot of sense, right?

With that said, it really was a wonderful program and I'm thankful I went. Just hopefully I won't see anyone from there for a while and I'll be even more thankful.