On Friday, June 28, 2010, I received a call from my mother telling me to come home because my grandmother was not going to make it. When I arrived home five hours later, I found out that my grandmother had already passed away. I had a special relationship with my grandmother. My grandmother was very kind, loving, and supportive. She treated all of her grandchildren the same. I can remember staying at her house every summer from the time I turned eight years old until about twelve years old.
My mother would put me on a greyhound bus for Louisiana. My grandmother would cook all of my favorite foods. When she got off work, she would take time with me and we would either watch TV or play games. My grandmother’s favorite TV show was wrestling. She would pop popcorn and we would sit in the living room at watch TV. There were times she would take me to the country with her and we would go in the cornfields and get corn. By the time we got back to her house, we would have at least a bushel of okra, peas, and sugar cane. I was a big fan of sugar cane, because it was something different. My grandmother has a wash house on the outside of the main house, and in there were my dollhouses, toys, and her washer. I could never play in there, but it was a good place to hold my things.
My grandmother was a good Christian woman. Most of all, she was a proverb 31 woman. My grandmother cited the rosary daily. She knew everything she needed to know about her faith. Church was a normal weekly ritual in her house. She went to church faithfully every Sunday. She touched many lives throughout Texas and Louisiana. My grandmother lived to be ninety-five years old. She was married for most of those years. My grandmother bore three children, and she outlived one of her daughters. I know that it is important for grandchildren to be in their grandparents’ lives. There are stories that my grandmother told me about when she was a little girl that I can pass on to my children. I cannot say enough about how my grandmother loved me and if she felt I needed discipline, she would definitely do it. I always tried to stay out of trouble in order to stay on my grandmother’s side. My advice to all who have a grandmother, cherish her all the time, because when she’s gone to heaven (like my grandmother) you may not see her for a while. I will miss my grandmother, but I know where she is going and she’s at peace now.
My grandmother. Mary (Clara) Guidry Spencer of Rayne, Louisiana.
