We had nice shoes...

I, personally, feel like I am the luckiest woman in the world to have a grandmother like I do. She is one of the most patient, meek, extraordinary women I know. 


My mom and I lived under her roof on and off: once after my father died and again in high school. Although my mom is now remarried and lives elsewhere, I never once would visit one and not the other. I have celebrated every. single. birthday with a special menu straight from her kitchen with my entire extended family present. I have tip-toed downstairs in her house to get a midnight snack, only to find her up, watching the end of the Braves game. She cooks cornbread for Matt every single time we're in town. And sends us home with the leftovers. Watching Georgia football with her is right up there with being at the game in person. This woman and her weekly Sunday lunches for the whole family is the glue that keeps us together.

She was there for mine and Matt's engagement... her face is priceless to me:

(That's my other grandmother in this picture too. In her most voicemail to me, she said "I love you and I pray the Lord takes I likin' to ya'." Another story for another day... I'm the luckiest.)

A few months before our wedding, my mammaw asked me to help her find a dress. We shopped till we dropped... and she looked beautiful! 

Mammaw is quiet and does a lot of listening. Like any wise woman does, I guess. She's never talked entirely too much about her childhood or her engagement to my Grandfather... but there are a few fantastic stories that I've managed to get out of her and that I'll share with you. 

My grandfather was 13 years older than mammaw. He was a pastor and she was a member at his church.  According to my grandfather, mammaw started wearing bangle bracelets to church so that she would "jingle" when she shook his hand after the service and catch his attention. He claims she added more and more bangles until he took a fancy to her. Mammaw shyly claims, "I might have worn two or three."

Mammaw never talks much about her mom and dad, either. We found out through my great uncle that mammaw's dad was a moonshiner. When we asked mammaw about this, she simply stated, "All I know is that we had nice shoes."

My grandmother is the sweetest, most loving, most thoughtful individual. We never leave her house empty handed. Whether it's Matt's cornbread, snacks for the road, or a two-liter of soda that she "just bought extra", she makes sure we are taken care of.

There's no one like her. 

Lauren