My Grandma, My Angel, My Hero...

My grandmother (Maw maw) - my Angel - My hero...

As some of you already know, my mother left after having an affair when I was 7 years of age... my dad took care of me and my two younger brothers for the next 5 years... until he found a new woman, one who didn't like us very much.


My dad decided that he would rather be with her than to be with us any longer, and he asked my grandmother to take care of us. 


This lady, my grandmother, had already given birth, and raised five children of her own. When her oldest daughter was 26, her youngest daughter was 12, they were in a really bad car accident. The oldest daughter was killed and my grandmother took in and raised her two young children, who were then 5 and 2. The youngest daughter was in a coma for months, and came out partially paralyzed. The youngest daughter is now approaching her 50's and is still living at home with my grandmother. 


At the time my dad asked my grandmother to take care of the three of us, the 2 year old mentioned in the last paragraph, had just turned 19 and was getting out on his own.  My grandfather, on the other hand, didn't care too much for children and was NOT going to allow my grandmother to take in and raise more children. She was NOT going to let us go to the state, or on the streets, so she did what she felt she had to do.


After 40 years of being married and living in the same home as my grandfather, she began to plan her "escape" of sorts. She found a home right down the street from where she was currently living and she began to rent it. One day while my grandfather was at work, my grandmother packed all of her things and moved into the other home... where we were welcomed. I know she was tired from the years of taking care of little ones... it seemed as soon as she thought she was finished raising them, more came to her doorway.


She put everything behind her, the man she loved, the home she had always lived in, just so we wouldn't have to do without. My youngest brother just turned 22 years of age, and my grandmother finally has the house to herself, herself and my aunt.


I've never heard my grandmother say the word NO to anyone. She welcomes everyone she knows with open arms. She can sew the most beautiful items you could ever lay eyes on... she's actually the reason why I love sewing, and crocheting.


In studying the Proverbs 31 woman I one day realized... they were speaking of my Maw maw. She tirelessly does for everyone, and never once have I heard her complain... I can see that she limps in pain from her hip at times, but she never lets it slow her down.


She can get out in her green house and move, lift, plant, re-pot the most beautiful plants... she can take a saw and some wood, with some nails in hand and she can create anything you can ask her to. 


I love my grandmother... she was my mother growing up... and I could not have asked for a better one.  I love that she falls asleep each night reading her bible, and that she begins her day each morning with a cup of coffee in one hand, and her bible in the other... she sits next to her living room windown, sipping her coffee, and receiving the word of God. 

I only hope that I can one day become half the woman she is.

I love you Maw maw!