Reflections

We had a busy weekend at my parent's house. We did a lot of visiting with family. We were able to spend time with my 89 year old grandma, my Aunt JoJo, my brother, my two nephews and one of my bestest friends, Tammy. The girls always love playing with their cousins, the house is filled with screams, laughing & giggling. The girls seem to learn a few new tricks when they are with the boys such as, throwing balls in the house, pestering eachother, and making messes. It's all in fun but when I look back now, I think my mom and I did a little too much yelling. Caroline and Makenzie had a wonderful time with Mauw and Papaw and as you can see, they needed their rest.

I was able to spend a lot of time with my granny Nell this trip. She will be 89 this March and is as spry and "with it" as they come. Her body is weak but her mind is still strong. She is one of the funniest people I know. I am blessed to still have her with me. My grandfather (Granny Nell's husband) passed away when I was 7 and I still have very fond memories of him. He had the fuzziest eyesbrows ever and he was a painter. I have several of his paintings in my home. I am able to walk by his painting everyday and remember him and know where I came from. His name was Phillip and if I ever had a son, I wanted to name him after my grandfather.

My dad's parents passed away in 2000 and 2001. They were wonderful and we had such a big family on my dad's side. He is one of 7 children. The holidays were always so much fun. The grandkids running all over the house and my aunts and uncles all there together. I miss those days. As we have gotten older we don't see eachother often enough, if ever. My grandpa Boling loved horses and he always smoked a pipe. If I come across someone smoking a pipe, I always take in the scent and remember him. He always had stubble on his face too. When we would leave to head home, I would give him a kiss and he was always so scratchy. Now when my dad gives Caroline a kiss, she always tells him he is scratchy too.

My grandma Boling was a sweetheart. I can still feel her soft skin and remember her smile. She was beautiful. She made the best cinnamon toast ever. I don't know what she did, but I could eat 10 pieces all by myself. I have a necklace hanging from my rearview mirror that she gave me when I turned 16. It has been in every car I have owned. Everytime I look at it, I can remember her and know she loved me.

I was blessed to have not two but three grandpas in my life. My granny Nell remarried in 1983 to a man named Lester. He was different from my grandfather, but different was good. He never had children of his own and he was very good "Bonus Dad" to my mom and aunt and to us grandkids. I often thought of him as a kid himself. He loved to have fun and was always telling jokes. He was a poet and could write a poem about anything. Lester had probably written over 1000 or more poems in his lifetime. He was the kindest man you could know and would do anything for anyone. Lester passed away in January of 2003 just before Caroline was born.

I have so many fond memories of all of my grandparents. My Granny Nell and I are very close and I am lucky to have her still in my life. I love that there are four generations of women on the Higdon side of the family. We are all stubburn, kind-hearted, and beautiful. I think my grandfather would get a kick out of my girls. I know my granny Nell sure does.

This weekend was about reflections for me. I miss my grandparents everyday & I am thankful that my girls have such a strong bond with all of their grandparents. I hope when they are older they have stories to tell their children about days spent playing and being loved by the most wonderful grandparents in the world. So to Mauw & Papaw, Grandmother Jeanie and Grandpa Bob, lets continue to make memories to last a lifetime.