Casey, Annie, Gracie, Lillian, and Ivan Mauldin: For Gran

As I mentioned when I started this blog, the main reason for me to post was for Gran. She sent me love from afar in the form of baby clothes and coupons, with only one request in return; photos and news about the babies and me.

Well, on May 15 (my parents' 28th wedding anniversary) she passed away. I have only just now mustered up the courage to post to my poor abandoned blog; and especially about Gran. I have spent many hours pondering how to move forward with this thing. I have decided that I will keep posting photos and stories for those who want to read this, and also because I too (like many others) believe a heaven without a computer is not a heaven at all for Grannie...

I am so thankful that she got to hold and love each of my children. I am sad that two of them won't remember her. Well, there's lots of sad things that I feel. And lots of happy things. She gave me something in her final minutes that she did not have to, like she did her entire life with every person she met. She never had to go to all of my football games, but always did. Grannie taught me how to bake, sew quilts, and make scrambled eggs. She called me her special "Annie Gal", but I found out that she treated everyone special like that; which makes me very happy that others felt as pampered as I did. I cannot look at orange tic tacs or Logic puzzles the same anymore, and my grocery bill has gotten higher. I remember going on a drive-in movie date on a $20 bill that Grannie sent us when Casey and I were supremely broke, with a note that said, "For Annie and Casey to enjoy, Love Grannie and GranJack". I can still smell her moomoo like it did when I would snuggle up with her for naps in Hobbs in her big King size bed. I have started mopping my floors with ammonia and cannot wait to make my next chocolate buttermilk cake, because it makes my house smell like Grannie's house. I used to use my special apple butter sugar bowl like crazy, but I think I will put it away in a safe place now.

I know there are a lot of "I"'s and "me"'s in the above paragraph. I have been trying to stay away from those pronouns. But I have a hard time saying how I feel, so I am going to write it. Dealing with all of this has been tough. Every one of us is going through our own personal hell of mourning and I guess this is the way I can handle right now. I just wanted to get photos of her up. I want these to be the memories I keep.

~The Quintessential Grannie: notice the red shirt, glasses, thick dark hair, cute little watch, and most importantly-a camera!~