6:41am. Roughly 30 minutes ago my
Aunt called. Grandma passed last night. I’ve been up all night tossing and
turning, I didn’t know why. Her cries ring out in the still of the morning.
Dumbfounded and feeling completely numb I hang up the phone. 30 minutes go by,
the impact of her words left me not feeling, tears could not flow, my heart
refused to feel the magnitude of it all. I curled up in bed took out my journal
and proceeded to remember the woman that I cherish, love, and adore. I never
want to forget the memories:
Hot August Week:
The ending of summer always meant one
thing growing up, one week with grandma! We packed whatever small belongings we
had, piled into the minivan and proceeded to make our way to Lottsburg,
Virginia. Looking back now I realized it was a week of pure love.
Every morning grandma would fix “slop” for Snoopy and Flip (some dry dog food,
fresh slices of white bread, water, and dinner leftovers). She would go outside
to feed them their portions, the morning dew still glistening on the blades of
grass, crickets and lotuses already humming, the temperature rising by the
second. I quickly learned what dew cracks were. The morning consisted of pure
excitement, granny would make pans of bacon, scrambled omelets with cheese
grits, biscuits and toast slathered with butter and jelly, bowls of cereal,
juice, and milk. She would be running in and out of the kitchen getting
dressed, talking on the phone, putting her dentures in, taking the rollers out
her hair, applying jewelry, perfume, and lipstick. By the time breakfast was
over and we were plump like chickens she would run her errands, picking up mail
from the post office, buying more groceries from the Callao supermarket,
washing clothes at the laundromat, visiting church members, stopping by the
church or Holly Graded School to handle some business...always on the go! No
matter where we went it seemed like the entire community knew her, “Florence!
How have you been?” They would proceed to chat for what seemed like an eternity
in kid time.
The Laundromat:
Granny would gather all
the clothes that needed washing, and load baskets into her trunk. She would
then make sure she had enough coins, powder detergent, bleach, and softener.
For hours we would be there. She would let me dig through her purse and fetch
extra change out for the snack machine. While sipping on orange or purple Crush
soda, I would play Pac-Man until the fresh white sheets were crisp dry and
folded. Afterwards, she would treat us by stopping off at Tastee-Freez to pick
up ice cream cones.
Ginger snaps:
During the day we would gather
together in her living room with fans blowing. Our daily ritual consisted of
one goal: how many gingersnaps could we eat in one day without feeling sick.
With tea mugs filled with milk we would start our day watching Blues Clues, the
Wild Thornberry, Rugrats, Doug, and Nickelodeon movies. All day she would make
endless pitchers of Kool-Aid in every flavor, and she always added the right
amount of sugar. We would run in and out of the kitchen grabbing Popsicles,
Vienna sausages, and potted meat with crackers. She had a green glass candy
bowl always filled endlessly with hard candy. Lunchtime meant bologna
sandwiches slathered with mayonnaise, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. She always
sliced fresh tomatoes and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Periodically, we
would go outside to play; making mud pies and climbing up trees. Her front door
was always open providing a fresh summer breeze through the screen door. Her
sister, who lived next to her, would stop by with jars of homemade jam from her
grapevine and vanilla cupcakes topped with homemade chocolate icing. A
thunderstorm meant all electricity went off and you had to find something quiet
to do because the Lord was speaking.
Church Revival:
In the country, summer evenings meant
church revival! It was an all week event. You had to show up early because by
the time “testimony time” started it was overflowing with people from all over
the community. They had to put out additional metal chairs down the center
aisle so people could sit. I always made sure to pack a few church dresses and
we always showed up clean and presentable. “That’s Sheila’s kids! You all have
gotten so big since the last time we saw you” members would proclaim. By the
time you left church you really felt revived, rejuvenated, ready to run on.
Granny would be one of the last people standing in front of the church catching
up with members and people from the community, while we chased and ran around
with our friends.
Fireflies:
Granny gave us each a jar, she
punched holes in the lid. The temperatures were somewhat more bearable and we
would run around in the front yard waiting for lightning bugs to light up the
sky. This memory I will never forget.
We would proceed to do this for seven
days straight! By the seventh day moms van would be rolling into the yard and
we would run towards her with open arms, “Mama we missed you so much!” We would
tell her all about our adventures.
The years went by, we got older, but
our love for granny only grew stronger. She was someone we knew we could always
depend and lean on. Whenever I saw her she always wanted me to pick out a
sweater or cardigan from her closet. She would always try to squeeze a five
dollar bill into my hand and tell me to buy something nice. She always reminded
us to be kind to one another, to love one another, to keep God first. She
attended all my graduations and pushed me on to never give up on my dreams. She
did not have many material things but she had love. She didn’t brush shoulders
with the president or travel the world, but she had an encouraging word to
offer. She had great faith, prayer, she had God.
Earth has no sorrow that heaven can’t
heal. Thank you granny for the endless memories, for never wavering from your
truth, for loving me and teaching me what it means to be a woman of faith.
I
love you.
