Day 21-Grandparents

Day 21 of 30 Days of Thanks

Grandparents

I loved all my grandparents but I don’t have many pictures of my mother’s father. Grandpa Layne, as we was known to us, died when I was about 18 years old.  A few weeks ago my cousin found a few snapshots and emailed me copies.

It’s funny some of the things that I remember about him. He was a smoker and always had a cigarette (Kool was the brand, I think) in his hand. He preferred sitting on the porch to being in the house. He liked Molasses cake and mom made him one every year on his birthday. He didn’t like bright clothes and told my grandmother her dress was “too loud” (it was black and white). His nickname for my grandmother was Otis, which was weird but it was a joke. He always wore a hat and he HATED having his picture made.

I remember when he died my mother was devastated. She cried and cried. One night I got up and found her sitting in a chair, looking out the window, across the road where he was buried. Her grief was such that I wondered if she would ever recover from it. It broke my heart  to lose Grandpa and then it broke again for Mom.

All my grandparents loved me and shared whatever they had with others and with me. I am forever grateful for the love and life lessons they gave me!

Thank you, Lord, for my grandparents!

“Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.” – Alex Haley –