My Grandmother - Mamaw

I am sad to write that my grandmother passed away February 2008. Since November, 2007, she had six to eight strokes. She was just never able to recover.

She was more than ready to go to heaven and be with her husband of 60+ years. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved - Romans 10:13". She definitely believed in the saving grace of our Lord. Our family continues to be blessed because of her faith. Her twin sisters, parents and a child she never met, were there awaiting her arrival.

What a comfort to know that she is no longer suffering. Her feeble body has been healed, and she is doing MUCH better than any of us here on earth are doing. Thank you, Lord, for your perfect plan of salvation.

I miss her dearly. I even find myself picking up the phone to call her. I have so many wonderful memories of Mamaw. Here are a few memories, beginning with my earliest recollections . . .

1 - Visiting Ms. Mertz (now known as Hilltop) for yummy vanilla soft serve ice cream in a cone. Thanks, Mamaw, for introducing me to ice cream. I owe many pounds to you!
2 - Traveling from Texas to visit Mamaw and Papaw for extended weekends. We would arrive about 2am and daddy always let me go to their bedroom and wake them up.
3 - Christmas was a special time when all family would enjoy an extended period of fellowship and eating. I remember Mamaw decorating her home for Christmas. She always had a tree with the same special ornaments. She meticulously placed silver tinsel evenly across the green branches. Only she could place the tinsel to her satisfaction. Over the years, she created several Christmas crafts through her church bazaar. I will always remember the felt Advent Calendar, Mr. and Mrs. Santa made from quilt batting, Mr. and Mrs. Snowman made from quilt batting and the best was a felt Santa Clause toilet seat cover - yes - you read right - a toilet seat cover. Santa's felt ,mitten covered hands covered his eyes when the toilet seat was lifted!
4 - The first Christmas gift I remember receiving from Mamaw was a watch - I think it was a Cinderalla watch.
5 - When I was 9, we moved close to Mamaw and Papaw.
6 - Occasionally I would spend Friday nights with Mamaw and Papaw. Early Saturday mornings, I traveled to town with Mamaw for her weekly hair appointment at Ms. Amelia's beauty salon. I giggle now at the memory of seeing Mamaw sitting under the noisy hot air salon hair dryer with her hair tightly wound on rollers while looking at a magazine.
7 - Riding with Mamaw driving her huge grey Ford car aka "buggy"- whew - what an experience. She was very heavy footed. She would accelerate real fast and immediately let off the gas pedal. Everyone who rode with Mamaw had a slight case of whiplash.
8 - Many summers, I would travel with Mamaw and Papaw out of state to visit family. Two or three times, we traveled by Amtrak train. Now that's an experience! Twenty six hours on the train sitting with Mamaw and Papaw. Oh what wonderful times.
9 - During our summer trips, we sometimes traveled by air - when Mamaw's vertigo would allow. We always had to travel through the very large Atlanta airport. I remember one very funny occasion as we sprinted down the aisle of the airport to make our connecting flight with only minutes to spare. I was pushing Mamaw in the wheelchair and Papaw had two armfulls of luggage navigating our path - whew! I am laughing now as I remember this.
10 - Mamaw visited Piggly Wiggly every Thursday for her weekly grocery shopping. All week, she wrote down necessary and even unnecessary items for her shopping list. You see, back then, Piggly Wiggle gave Quality Stamps - remember those? The more groceries she bought at Piggly Wiggly, the more stamps she received. Now this leads me to the next memory . . .
11 - When she accumulated enough stamps, we would travel 30 minutes to the Quality Stamp Redemption Store. She was then able to redeem those stamps for many catalog items. Mamaw always selected some type of kitchen appliance. Now this leads me to the next memory . . .
12 - After visiting the store, we would eat across the street at Wendy's. She always chose a Number 1, all the way, no cheese and a coke to drink. Mamaw loved a Wendy's hamburger - only second to Hilltop hamburgers. One of Mamaw's last meals was a Wendy's hamburger.
13 - Mamaw was a really good southern cook. Here's a list of the foods she frequently cooked. Creamed corn with a stick of butter - yummy! Cornbread, fried squash (yum-O), peas, Sunday roast with potatos and carrots. Sweet tea, green butterbeans, dressing, dumplings (flat kind), cobblers and fruit turnovers. Papaw loved to hunt. One time he killed a racoon. Mamaw cooked BarBQ racoon! I don't think she tasted it. She would cook the wild meats he brought home, but rarely would she eat it.
14 - Ocassionally I would drive Mamaw to go shopping for clothes or groceries. Mamaw would frequently tell me, "I sure do like going to town with you. It reminds me so much of the good times I had with my girls."
15 - When I graduated nursing school, Mamaw gave me a small white nurse's Bible.
16 - Mamaw loved my husband, Lance. When we visited her, she would actually greet and kiss him before greeting and kissing me. She always said, "Now you know that I love Lance just as much as I love you, Melissa. He is just like one of my own grandchildren."
17 - One of the last trips I took with Mamaw was to visit Holly at college during her Freshman year. We wheeled her around the dorm and up the elevator. I will never forget Mamaw's reaction when we entered Holly's dorm room. It was SO small! We had to back Mamaw and her wheelchair out of Holly's room because there was not enough space to turn her around!
18 - Mamaw's last out of town trip was to Andrew's high school graduation. She was very proud to have all five grandchildren graduate high school and off to college!
19 - Mamaw greatly anticipated the birth of her first great-grandchild. We sat together talking about baby names and recounting events when her children were young. Thankfully, Mamaw was able to meet Lauren Ann Stewart born on June 27,2007. Mamaw and Aunt Sandy hand delivered a bouquet of flowers to my room the day of her arrival. Immediately after discharge, we took three day old Lauren to visit Mamaw. Mamaw was delighted to hold Lauren and rock her. She was thrilled that Lauren inherited Papaw's red hair.
20 - Mamaw had a special place to give Lauren kisses. The nape of Lauren's neck is reserved for "Mamaw's Sugar." On the phone, she would always tell me to give the baby some of "Mamaw's Sugar." Lauren will continue to recieve "Mamaw's Sugar" from me for many years to come.

I could go on and on with further accounts of my precious grandmother. She was very special to me for many years.

Here are a few photos taken during Mamaw's memorial service. Thank you so much to the precious families at Harmony BC and the Methodist Church. You offerred our family much comfort during the time of her funeral.

Do any of you out there have memories of my grandmother? Leave them in the comments section if you do. I would enjoy reading your memories.