A beautiful life

Mary Catherine Whalin - my grandmother.  May 27, 1920-September 21, 2008.

Some of my most vivid memories of being a little girl revolve around time spent with my grandmother.  Most of those memories were made in a kitchen.  My "Mamaw" taught me everything I know about baking.  I still measure my dry ingredients (sugar, flour, etc.) the way Mamaw taught me...with the back side of a knife so to make it exactly the correct amount. 

I spent hours upon hours in the kitchen with Mamaw.  I had my special step stool to stand on so that I was high enough to work on the counter tops.  We made thousands of cookies, hundreds of cakes, hundreds of jars of jams, and many other yummies.  Smells trigger memories of my Mamaw more than anything else.  That's so fitting.

I stayed with Mamaw many days growing up while my mom worked.  I can't remember ever being bored.  (What kid could be bored when sugary treats were involved? :))  We spent time out in her garden.  We visited with her friends...who also had nice sugary treats to share.  We watched her "stories" (aka - soaps) before they became R rated.  We played thousands of rounds of Yahtzee - still one of my favorite games.

Mamaw lost my grandfather when I was 4.  I never remember her sulking or being depressed about his passing.  She loved to tell stories of wonderful times they spent together.  She loved to tell me how they eloped.  I love this story: Mamaw was only 17 when she eloped with my Papaw.  Her parents didn't really like Papaw, but she was in love.  She lived at home with her parents until she turned 18 - secretly married.  Then, they spent the rest of their lives together.  Isn't that just such a fun story? 

My mom and I moved to GA when I was 8.  It was harder to leave my grandmother behind in KY than anything else.  Mamaw moved down as soon as she could, and I remember being so happy when she was down here with us.  She stayed with us a little while, in our very small house - with a cat and a dog...neither of which she liked all that much!  But, oh, how I loved her being there with me.  When she did move into her own place, it was only about 4 miles away.

These last few years have been very different.  Mamaw was diagnosed with Dementia a few years back. Alzheimers/Dementia is such a cruel disease.  I know my grandmother didn't remember much in the last couple of years, but I believe that she did remember some of our wonderful memories that we shared together.  It made me happy that she could remember really far back - memories of times with my grandfather, memories of times with her siblings, memories of things that were special to her. 

When you think of the people you have known all your life, parents, siblings, and grand parents are usually who you remember.  That makes those people even more special.  I hate that I won't know Mamaw the rest of my life, but I will always remember her.

Mamaw was a wonderful grandmother.  I have loved her deeply all of my life.  I always will.