She was the grandparent that we, as parents, love to hate. You know, the "permissive" kind. I remember spending the weekend at her house as a child and consuming nothing but pudding and Pepsi the entire weekend. I remember taking out every. single. Barbie and spewing them around the room. Sometimes they stayed there the entire weekend. I remember being able to choose anything we wanted at MCL. I don't ever remember hearing harsh or scolding words towards any of us grandkids come out of her mouth. I remember Christmas pampering, before or after the obligatory Papa John's pizza. (Mom, can we do that this year?) I remember cheese balls (that Britt often made, but we still call them Nonnie's cheeseballs). I remember ugly Christmas sweater. Bah Humbug! I remember the business trips mom and dad took together, leaving Nonnie "in charge" for several days or a week. (Nonnie, were you ever really in charge?) I remember how excited she was, even in my adult years, when she answered the phone and it was me on the other end. I remember...I remember...I remember...
What I remember most was how very much she loved each and every one of us grandkids! (I think she was especially partial to that one, in the picture...my cousin Trav. Travy, I think you were her favorite man EVER!
Today, on Nonnie's birthday, I am thankful for grandparents! Happy birthday, Non!
Although I don't have any living grandparents remaining, I think of them and miss them every single day. They were all different. They all had their own "charms." Grandma was a prayer WARRIOR. I have never met another woman with her faith and dedication, to God or family. Grandpa was hilarious. He was a joker. He was on that police scanner like no one I've ever seen (although my dad takes a close second). Florida Grandpa was a mystery to me. I only met him a few times, but every time I saw him he gave me money. When I was a kid, I thought that was great. I'd have gladly traded that money for more "face time," though!
My own kids are growing up with two sets of Godly grandparents who love and cherish them. I'm not going to tell you which set are the "permissive" ones. I think they know. And I love that about them. They've got grandparents that build with them, pray with them, laugh with them, cry with them. I pray that they'll develop lasting, life-long friendships with these grandparents. I pray that they'll be better about calling their grandparents in their later years than I was, because if they don't they'll regret it. There'll be a day when they can no longer pick up the phone to call, but even years later they'll sometimes forget, or at least that's my hope. It'll mean they were close and clung to the support their grandparents had to offer.
Today, I am thankful for grandparents. My own grandparents. My "surrogate" grandparents, like our Ninny in Kentucky. My parents and in-laws for the grandparents they've become and are becoming. Thank you, thank you, for being such a huge impact in my life!
Dear Lord, today I thank you for grandparents. I thank you for generations teaching generations. I thank you for love that doesn't care how old you are, what gender you are, whether you're rich or poor, whether you have a snotty nose. I thanks you for the love that was shown me through my grandparents and the love my kids experience through theirs. Lord, help me to learn from these grandparents, both that have gone before and that are grandparenting now, so that one day I can be a shining example to my own grandkids and leave a legacy of which I could be proud. Thank you for gradparents!
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