Words for my Mamaw

I grew up spending vacations, holidays and 3-day weekends with Mamaw & Papaw. I remember sun tea brewing by the pool and getting lunch on plastic plates under the umbrella table. Mamaw & Papaw’s house meant riding the train, going to the zoo and riding the skytram, playing in the pool and food. There were always meals. We ate at every table in the house and every meal was an occasion.

Now that we’re older, when Mamaw got sick, I was hesitant to hang out with her for hours each week. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my grandmother the whole time.

I was actually really shocked to find out what a smart-alec she was. She was hilarious. She had this dry wit and would come out of nowhere with these comments. I remember in the ER over Christmas the nurse taking forever to do something and she sat there and rolled her eyes behind the nurses back and we held back our snickers. Mom said the second the tube came out the first time she was intubated she could barely speak, but she made sure Mom heard her and said, “Don’t do that again.” It was kind of shocking to see that side of Mamaw.

I think Mamaw spent most of her life being proper. But towards the end, when she’d lost all of her pride, I saw her as this real person. She was funny and she had a sharp wit. She loved having afternoon tea, her favorite was green tea. She loved Atkins chocolate coconut bars and Pirates Booty. She liked to watch Golden Girls. She loved spending time with her family. Her face would literally light up every week when I came to see her. We would sit for hours and talk. We chatted about runway shows and how many women did Tiger Woods really cheat with. I wasn’t her nurse and I didn’t help her with anything medical, but we became friends.

I held her hand when she was sad over Nellie and I hugged her when she missed Papaw. I covered her walls with pictures of her family and made sure she told every nurse that came by about each person on the wall. We bonded over diabetic snacks. She shared stories about her life before Papaw I’d never heard before. I miss her.

Last Saturday I celebrated my 30th birthday at home. I was able to see her calm and peaceful - completely happy and content. She talked about the birds feeding schedules outside her window and how great the food was at her new digs. She bowed her head to pray with us and sat calmly across the hall while we ate dinner. And every time we’d look over at her she’d give us a thumbs up and occasionally yell over that she couldn’t hear a thing we were saying. I sat down and played piano for her for an hour. And we just talked. She looked at me and said, “I know I don’t have much longer, but I’m so grateful for being home.” She was happy. She knew. And she was ready.

I will forever cherish the fact that I was able to see her as more than the Mamaw that put salt on her watermelon and was back in the kitchen fixing the next meal the very second we finished the first.

I have two favorite verses: 1 Cor 13:13 and Phil 1:3. Chapter 13 of Corinthians is known as the Love chapter. I have never seen two people that better exemplify love than Mamaw & Papaw. I hope that one day I can set that example for the generations beyond me. It isn’t a coincidence that she joined Papaw in time for their 63rd wedding anniversary. She wanted to be with him again. And perhaps my all-time favorite is Phil 1:3. I thank My God every time I remember you. And I do.