family

I really miss the way my family used to be. We all used to live in the same area in northwestern Tennessee. Although we are different in many ways, it was nice to be able to see them all whenever I desired. Today, I see my extended family maybe once or twice a year. They still haven't met Lucas yet because the drive is 7 hours roundtrip. I am not really ready to make that trip yet!
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My grandfather passed away several years ago quite suddenly between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now in hindsight it is easy to see that he was the rock of the family. There's not this great "need" for the entire family to get together as before. He was a devout Christian as well, and I have no doubt that I will see him again. It's almost like watching my grandfather with the youngest grandchild he had, Brandy, when I watch my own father with Lucas. There's a magic touch there that was passed down to the next generation. I'm sure that my own brother's way with babies will appear when he has his first child. I have a lot of hope that children will change my brother's life (as it has mine).

My grandfather was a hard working blue-collar worker. He spent years doing something he loved, a mechanic, and he taught his son everything he knew about cars. He loved animals. He loved pecans and had several pecan trees. He fought for our country in World War II.
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One of the funniest and fondest things I think of when I think of my grandfather was his relationship with his mother-in-law, my great-grandmother (granny). I barely remember granny being married to Lex. He was granny's, I don't know 2nd/3rd, husband (the others died). Granny basically lived right up the road from her daughter and son-in-law all those years and passed away a couple of years before my grandfather. She had a tiny little house that she painted a pumpkin color. She thought it was gold as in "the streets of gold" in heaven. I kid you not! Granny would call the Party Line in Dyersburg daily to talk about Jesus. I admit looking back, I thought she was a bit off-her-rocker, but apparently it wasn't dementia as I thought. My own mother admitted that she had always been this way, crazy about Jesus.

My grandfather and granny had a funny relationship. I swear it could have been a sitcom with the way they would banter back and forth over anything. I can remember getting a chuckle out of my grandfather when granny accused him of looking at another woman in the Walmart parking lot. Grandfather loved driving his mother-in-law (granny) to Walmart, so just imagine a woman in her 80's and a man in his late 60's/early 70's fighting over things that you would expect in two people much younger. It just goes to show that a mother-in-law relationship is quite funny!

They are both gone now. Granny died quite suddenly. I don't really know if it was a stroke or a massive heart attack. My grandfather died of a stroke. He was on coumadin for transient ischemic attacks and was a type II diabetic.

My grandmother (his wife) is all that I have left as far as grandparents are concerned. I'll really miss her when she's gone, though I don't see her as much as I should.