Pretty is as pretty does

That's what my grandmother use to say to us when we were growing up... Mammaw is what we called her. Today would have been her brithday. I mentioned in the post about Daniel how special she was, but you don't know the whole story. She is quite frankly the reason I am who I am. The unconditional love that she showed to all of us, even when we didn't deserve it times was something to behold...She was so pretty too..Her hair was always done and she always looked her best when she was out and about...
I'm having a hard time finding the words to describe her. How do you really find the words that are in your heart..There aren't really any words powerful enough to describe the woman I looked up to the most in my life (with the exception of my own mother)... She brought light and love to everyone she met. She was a strong Christian, and she studied the Bible, I mean studied it...But she was never judgemental about those that weren't as strong in their faith.
I miss her everyday. When there are big moments in my life especially..I can remember when little Thomas was born (see Thanksgiving entry). She had been gone from us for a little over a year... I held him when he was just a few hours old... I cried b/c he would never know her like his mom and I did, and I promised him at that moment that would I tell him all about her and he would always know who she was and how special she was to us as a family..

The tears are flowing now b/c I still miss her and there's so much I want to tell her. But I know she's in heaven looking down on me and the family and she hears me... but I would give everything I owned just to hear her voice one more time, to hear her same my name and tell me she loves me....

She said something to me a few days before she died- fyi mammaw didn't suffer from a long illness, she wasn't feeble when she died, she was sitting at home in her recliner just watching television, when her heart finally gave out- She said, "you know, sometimes I get really scared about things but then I just think about how blessed I am and everything's ok" .... She only said it to me and it was the first time I had EVER heard her acknowledge fear, but her blessings out weighed her fears and she was comforted by that... I think she knew her time was drawing near...

She had style, grace, integrity, and most importantly she had the love of God in her heart, and her heart was pure.

Happy birthday Mammaw, we love you and miss you so much...

Oh and one more thing, the young man that I talked about in a previous post, Daniel, passed away today, on Mammaw's birthday... I know she was there to welcome him home...God rest his little soul...