It's good to be a granddaughter

Being a granddaughter is one of the greatest things to be.

I was very lucky to have and know both sets of my grandparents and one set of great-grandparents. 

As I've mentioned before, I grew up next door to Mawmaw & Pawpaw and Big Mawmaw & Big Pawpaw.
My other set of grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa, live about 20 minutes away from God's country. We won't hold that against them.

By the way, I love that different grandparents have different names! I think it's so interesting to find out what everyone called their grandparents.

So every Sunday after church we all (by 'we all' I mean about 20 people on average) would go to Grandma and Grandpa's for Sunday dinner. Every single Sunday Grandma cooks a meal to feed the multitudes. (And by 'meal' I mean feast) I asked her one time how she knew how much food to cook because some Sundays it can be unpredictable on how many might show up. She said "The Lord takes care of that".

Grandma and Grandpa had 8 children.

4 of those children live near-by.

 They have 19 grandchildren (give or take a couple, I may have miscounted).

These are just a few.

I'm not even going to attempt to count the Great-Grandchildren or Great-Great-Grandchildren.

  Any given Sunday there's any where between 13 and 25 people at Grandma and Grandpa's.
Everyone gathers in the house before dinner and Grandpa prays. (Sometimes it can be considered preaching) He gives thanks for the blessings God has given him and reminds us of God's love.
Then he begins the line through the kitchen, followed by the men, then the children, then the women, then Grandma. She will not fix her plate until everyone has gone through the line, unless it is her birthday or their anniversary. Even then she has to be forced to take her place at the front of the line.

That tradition has been carried on from many generations before me.

I have been told that my Great-Grandmother on that side of the family would put back some of the good pieces of fried chicken for the women. There's alot to be learned from some of these great women.

After everyone gets their full, the kids go outside and play and everyone else sits around and visits. Many times the last person doesn't leave until close to 4:00. 

It may be good that not the entire family is able to be there all at once because I think if all Grandma's children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren were in her house at the same time, her heart would surely burst. (not to mention the toll it would put on the house and we would probably need a permit)

Grandma has been the janitor at the elementary school since I was in elementary school. She decided last year that she would retire sometime this year. That wonderful woman has over 380 un-used sick days. Who does that? She decided a few weeks ago, it was time for her to quit work and stay home. You may be thinking, well, sure, at her age, she has to be tired. Nope. She came to the conclusion that her house was not being taken care of to her standard. I believe she has been working harder the past few weeks now that she's retired than she did when she was working.

She has Pawpaw working harder too.

They have demolished, rebuilt, and painted the porch, painted doors, painted outside, and scrubbed everything.

Grandma and Grandpa have been married for 55 years.  They have lived through many things. 2 houses burned. 2 houses rebuilt. A few deaths. Many births. Disappointments. Joyous occasions. Yet through it all they have trusted in God, loved each other, and been a fortress for their family.

I love them.