Forgive me for going back awhile, but I wanted to share a little bit about my Grandma June. When we were home over Christmas we got a chance to go down to her little town and spend some precious alone time with her. It was Christmas day and the fact that she has eight kids, and they all have big families, and now their kids have kids etc...made the fact that she was alone a true miracle.
I'm painfully aware that times like that are very precious. She's in her mid-nineties and well, her days are numbered. I can't bear to think about when she'll be gone. Every holiday I can remember has been at her house. Many hours spent around her little kitchen table. So many memories. One of my favorite things in her house is the line of senior pictures of my aunts and uncles. She had eight kids. EIGHT! My dad is the second one from the left. He of course was the second oldest:)
I love to ask her about her life, because to be honest she's had a very hard one. It started for her as a child. Her brother Lyle was born severely handicapped. He was a twin and the other twin died in the womb and they didn't know it. So he lay there next to the decaying body of his sibling and it literally poisoned his little body. He never did walk, talk or feed himself. My Grandma pretty much was his caretaker and fed him and slept with him every single night. He passed when he was 19.
That's just the beginning of her care taking years. When she was in her late 40's my Grandpa, who was a milkman, died when a train hit his milk truck. When his life ended, she was left to fend for herself and take care of the 6 remaining kids left at home. She told me that she sat them all down and told them that she didn't know what she was doing, but that they would all figure it out together. She spent many years as a cook down at the elementary school.
She is just known for taking care of others. It's how she's passed her years...it's what has given her purpose. There is not a person in her little town, who doesn't know who she is. She is just an amazing person.
One of the things they know about her is her ability to cook. My Grandma June is pretty much famous for her rolls and peanut brittle. It's THE BEST you will ever have. Every year she painstakingly pulls the piping hot, sugary mixture with her hands to get it super thin and crispy. I asked her why she still does this. She responded, because such and such said the only thing they wanted for Christmas was my peanut brittle and I can't let them down. Her peanut brittle is just one of the reasons I gained 5 pounds over Christmas:)
These are her sweet hands. Hands that have worked HARD her entire life. Tara gave me the idea to photograph them. So glad I did.
See some of the red spots on them...from the hot peanut brittle.
I just had to get these thoughts down. Someday she'll be gone and I want to remember all of these things. I am so proud to be her granddaughter..so proud to be in her bloodline. It's just an honor to have come from such an amazing woman. May I remember all the lessons she's taught me...put others first, work hard, live the life you've been given to the best of your ability. We'd all be better off to follow those lessons right??
Have a blessed day.
