Who's that lady?

We call her Granny. The shortest, feistiest granny in the Southwest(VA)! She's pretty sick right now, but every now and then, we catch a glimpse of the "old" granny in there. A sparkle in her eye or that mischievous look she gets when she's about to say something funny.

She has 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren (if I counted right). She has been married to our Grandad for 64 years. She's been a Sunday School teacher and she's also been dragged from UMWA picket lines to jail. She is a quite a character.

And we love her more than words can say.

I guess the most important thing in regards to Granny is that she is my daddy's mother. Duh, right? But she didn't have to be. She was a little bit older when she became pregnant with my dad and the doctor suggested that she terminate the pregnancy for her own sake. And, of course, she didn't. She risked it and raised a wonderful man who became my father!

Granny makes it clear that she loves us (she tells us so 1,000,000x when we're with her), but she never mollycoddled me when I was younger. I have never enjoyed staying away from home and I always tortured myself trying to decide whether to stay at Granny and Grandad's or go home. I wanted to stay, but I wanted to go. Sometimes, I would go back and forth for an hour crying and throwing myself at my parents and then running down the driveway after my grandparent's car. Most of the time, I ended up going and at some point during the stay, I would cry. "I miss my mommy. I miss my daddy." Granny would always kind of chuckle and say, "Oh, Leah, it's ok!" or point out how brave my little sister was. By that point, she was probably dying to send me home, but she put up with me anyways.

Granny makes the best picnic lunches. You know, most families make sandwiches or take fried chicken or something like that. Not granny. She would get a paper grocery bag and fill it with cans of Beanie Weenees, Vienna sausages, sardines, snack cakes, crackers--basically everything in the cupboard and take it along. Those were the best picnics I have ever had.
She also makes the best oatmeal! I'm not sure what all she puts in it, but I know there is a lot of butter. I've tried to make it at home, but it never tastes quite the same. When I was as young as 8, I would eat at least 2 bowlfuls of the stuff (to be fair, I was kind of chubby).

My grandparents are madly in Love with each other. Like Edward and Bella in love (except he's not a vampire and....oh nevermind). My sister always says that they're like Alli and Noah in "The Notebook". He will hardly leave her side and tells her he loves her or that she's beautiful every 2.5 seconds. Just yesterday, Grandad was asking Granny for "some sugar" and she was more than glad to give him some. If it was my own parents, I would say, "Ewwww, gross!" but with my grandparents, it's so touching that you want to watch, but feel like you should turn your head and give them some privacy.

On the night Kade was born, Granny came to the hospital to wait. At this time, one of her feet bothered her a lot and she wasn't walking all that much. It got later and later and my aunt and uncle suggested that they go home, but she said she was fine. Kade was born at 12:15 am and Granny waited in front of my hospital room, eager to see her newest great grandson. She is still always happy to see him. She asks about him constantly and always seems to perk up when he's around. On Saturday, she was pretty incoherent, but when I carried Kade into the room, her eyes got big, she focused on him and said, "Kade!" I'm glad he's gotten to know his Granny.

Everyone should have a Granny, but not everyone does, and for that, I know I'm blessed. No matter how old I get, I'll need my Granny. No matter how old I am, I'll always pick up the phone on Christmas morning just to hear her say, "Did you hear those reindeer on the roof last night?" and play along. I'll see a Pizza Hut and remember how many slices of super supreme pizza she can eat. When I get old and my statuesque 5'2" body has shrunk to 4'11", I'll blame it on her. When my grandchildren dig around in my dresser drawers to find my secret stash of candy, I'll think of her. Every time I pack a picnic lunch, I'll think of her. Every time I play in a creek or eat red velvet cake. Every holiday, birthday, and anniversary. No matter how old I am. No matter how old she is. No matter how long I have her. She's my Granny.

I love you, Granny.