Of my grandmother's 92 years on earth, more than 60 were spent as a mother (to Tom, David and Susie), almost 40 of those were spent as a grandmother (to David Wayne, me, Emily, Chris, Amy and Clay), and the last 8-1/2 were spent as a great-grandmother (to Carly, Avery, Nathan, Shane, Piper and little Jake, her youngest great-grandson who was born on her 90th birthday). She's leaving a legacy that is already being played out in the lives of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
When I think of my grandmother, I think of a gentle spirit with fierce intelligence and wit. She was a woman of grace -- both in her poised demeanor and in the way she treated others. She was born and raised in the South, living most of her years in Texas, and yet she knew more about the world than most people who had lived abroad.
My earliest memories of grandmommy and granddaddy were of sitting in the leather recliner in the bedroom of their house on Call Field Road and watching them work their crossword puzzles. I was amazed that they seemed to know so many words and knew a little bit about every topic you could think of. But that probably would be no surprise to anyone who sat alongside my grandmother in any of her many book clubs.
My grandmother was an avid reader, and she's left an incredible keepsake to prove it. She kept two large, wooden boxes -- one labeled "A-L" and the other "M-Z" -- that served as her own card catalog system. She even cross-referenced the books with cards sorted by both book title and author. The types of books read were incredibly varied, as were her interests. She had an insatiable curiosity and tried to learn as much as she could about everything. Thanks to her record keeping, she's left her family with an incredible keepsake. We have the chance to follow behind her and have a bit of shared knowledge as we read the books she loved.
One of the many legacies my grandmother left us with was her love of simple pleasures. As a child of the Depression, she learned to make her own fun and respect her resources. She enjoyed writing letters to her children and grandchildren. She loved to play games -- especially bingo, Skip-Bo, dominos and Chinese checkers. She loved just sitting and visiting with her friends and family, and -- like many members of our family -- she enjoyed the art of storytelling. (And much like the stories of other family members, her stories tended to change over time.) One fond memory that has been stuck in my head is of a summer visit to Texas when I was little, and the entire host of aunts, uncles and cousins stayed with my grandparents. A rainstorm came through, and we all sat on the front porch for hours watching it and telling stories and eating homemade peach ice cream. Pretty much the perfect day. We learned from grandmommy how to make our own fun, how to appreciate the beauty of nature, how to let our family and friends know we love them, and how to expand our knowledge of the world beyond our own experiences.
Grandmommy taught me how to cross stitch when I was nine years old, and I'll always remember her two main needlework "rules of thumb." The first was to literally always leave your mark on the canvas. You're supposed to stitch your initials into every piece of work you create. The second rule was to create the cross stitch in such a way that you couldn't tell the back from the front. You wanted a clean piece of work that was polished and flawless in design, even if no one ever saw the other side of it. My grandmother lived those rules in her own life. She left her mark on everything she touched ... people will forever see things she created, or meet family members she loved, and know -- "that belongs to Lemmie. She helped create that." She also lived a life that was "polished" and pristine, regardless of whether or not anyone was watching. Hers was a life of integrity and compassion, of faith and family, of learning and teaching, of playing and hard work. She's made an incredible impact in my life, and she's already missed.
