~mY sWeEt mAmaW~

I can't begin to explain the many ways this special woman has impacted my life. She is truly an amazing woman & she has been a faithful servant to God & her family. She is the one who has & will continue to storm the gates of heaven with prayer for her children, grandchildren & great grand children. She is not just the tie that binds us together, she is the KNOT in which we are all connected to.
As a young girl, I remember spending summers with Mamaw. I remember helping her put clothes out on the line, snapping beans & okra, shucking corn, & canning a lot of fruit & vegetables for the coming winter. I remember going down to her basement in her old house where someone had built a ramshackle of a shower, and created a concrete drainage system going into the pump. I remember having to take a broom & sweep the water down the little creek (as I used to call it!). I remember her attic where there were two seperate bedrooms & it was so stinkin' hot up there but at night with the windows open & a fan blowing, it was the best place to be in the house. I remember her always making sausage & biscuits for breakfast and getting a cold Tab soda out of the freezer for her. Mamaw was a caretaker for this man Dave King who was once known as the richest man in Manchester at one time. He liveed in this huge house and her job was to take care of him in the evenings. I would go with her & just hang out. It was kinda boring but it was neat to be in such a big house. She would make us dinner, we would watch television for a bit & then she would get Mr. King ready for bed. I could tell that he loved her so much for being so kind & compassionate. Later on she became a caretaker for two children whose parents were in the medical profession. I went with her to their house every day she worked, and went right to the basement to go back to sleep for a bit. She would clean and take care of the kids. She worked so very hard during those years. She was like a second mom to those two & I know she holds a special place in their hearts too. As she got older & the kids grew up, she didn't go clean as often & eventually she retired from that job.
She is a pillar of strength & to the best of my knowledge has always relied on God's grace & mercy to get her through the bad times. We all thought for sure that after her second youngest son died unexpectedly, that she would fall apart & would not live another day. She made it through with lots of tears & prayer only to later experience the loss of a grandson. I can only say that God brought her through those dark hours. I think it was back in the fall of 2006 when Mamaw became really ill. She had to be hospitalized & there were days I think that my aunt thought this was the end of the road for her. She pulled through again with God's grace & mercy. That Christmas seemed to be the best becasue Aunt Martha Ella made an apron with all of the great grandkids' handprints on it & it said "Mamaw's Little Helpers". Then she took Mamaw's handprints & stiched the outline on an apron for each of the great grandkids so they would have something to remind them of her. It makes me cry just thinking about it.
I can honestly say that her spirit, her kindness towards others, her willingness to sacrifice whatever she had so others could have, and her undying love for God had inspired me & made me aware of what it truly is to be a child of God. Mamaw is now 82 yrs. old and is still as beautiful as an ocean sunset. I am so thankful that God chose her to be my grandmother. I love her so much & the miles make me miss her terribly. I will always be grateful for the time we get to spend together. I hope she knows how much she means to me & how much she has taught me about life. I love you Mamaw!