On Our Way To Crazy

Hello, internet. It’s been a while.

I’ve had a rough couple of weeks. My grandma passed away last weekend after a two week stint in the hospital fighting a variety of infections and organ failures before her body just couldn’t take it anymore. So I spent all of last week at my parents’ house in Dallas, doing the family thing and working on a picture slideshow and walking my laptop all around the house hoping to pick up a wireless connection somewhere.

I am sad. Because, y’all? My Nanny was awesome. I feel like I need to write some kind of poignant tribute about her life, but I don’t have that in me. She was crazy and funny and full of life and a fighter. Sappy isn’t fitting.

This is the woman who made 12 pairs of matching plaid bermuda shorts for a family golf tournament. The one who gave Aaron a roll of green felt as a gift and refused to tell him why. The one who, every year until she physically couldn’t do it anymore, made eggs and ham and piles of Texas toast for us every Christmas morning. And by us, I mean her six kids, eleven grandkids and eleven great-grandkids. That’s not even counting the spouses and assorted friends and other people who always seemed to find their way to her house. That’s a lot of toast.

She had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known. She had room for everyone, and she took care of all of us. At the funeral, the pastor, who was one of her past Sunday school students, said we are all ‘disciples’ of Nanny. And he was right. She showed us what unconditional love looks like. She gave us all a place and a home.

As I have gotten older I have started to see how lucky we are. Growing up, you think everyone else is like you. It was a long time before I realized that not everyone has family get-togethers that involve upwards of 50 people, oceans of Dr. Pepper and more than one chocolate pie per person. We may have a lot of drama and issues and volume, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

But we wouldn’t have been able to hold it together without Nanny. She was the driving force behind all of it, and the backbone behind all of us. We are sad, but we are good. We have each other.

And… I’m being sappy. Sorry! But I am sad. Also, I am sad for you, because chances are if you are reading this you didn’t know her. And that sucks for you. Because she was awesome.