Earth to Heaven - Letter Two

Freda Holmes Groover: A woman filled with love!

My dear sweet Grandmother,

I have thought so many times about writing you. You have been gone for so long, but to you it probably only seems like moments. Decades on earth have passed, and oh, so much has changed. One thing that has not changed is how deeply you are etched in my heart.

My earliest memory of you is watching you hurry around the house trying to figure out how to make everyone more comfortable. You literally lived to serve others. You thrived when you were doing it. I have lived a few years now and I can honestly say I have never, ever met anyone quite like you, and actually never expect to.

When Beverly and I were very little, and we came to visit you in the country where you lived, you were always prepared to make us feel at home. I understand now that you did not have money to work with, so you used your imagination to create fun for us! You made sure you had lots of paper and pencils so we could draw. You taught us to sew on that wonderful old Singer treadle machine in your bedroom. You had the patience of Job, or even more. When we wanted to swim, you would fill that little tin tub outside with the coldest water known to mankind, but we didn’t mind because we were swimming, or at least floundering around in a very small tub!

In the afternoons, for a snack, you would roast some of the peanuts that you and Granddaddy grew, and we thought we would perish before they were finished cooking! The entire house smelled of what we were longing for.

When Beverly and I wanted chocolate milk, you made sure you had plenty of milk, and lots of Hershey’s syrup on hand. One time you tried to surprise us and went out and milked the cow (while showing us how to do it) and we came back into the house as you served us glasses of warm milk that were freshly extracted from the cow! We were accustomed to cold milk from the grocery and so watching it come directly from the original source was a shock!

But, there was one place where you were perfectly in your element. The kitchen. You labored for countless hours preparing a multiple dishes of meat, multiple dishes of vegetables, wonderful bread and amazing desserts (also multiple) so that we could all sit as a family and have a feast. In that area, you had no equal and still don’t.

One of my very favorite memories was when we would drive down to your house after Mom and Dad got off of work, and so it was bedtime when we arrived. You met us at the door smiling with rollers in your hair and a big fluffy bathrobe trying to figure out which pillow would be the best for each person, and exactly how many blankets it would take to keep everyone warm in the precious old house with only one heater in the living room! Every child should know what it is like to have a Grandmother exactly like you, and to be loved and welcomed the way you welcomed us every single time we saw you!

The truth is, I could write you a hundred letters expressing all that you meant to me and recounting all of my happy memories of you and there would still be enough content for a hundred more. To say that you made a huge impression on me- both as a kid and as an adult- is a total understatement. I will be eternally grateful for you and how much you loved me for all of my life.

I miss you more than words could ever express.

Glenda

P.S. Please send my love to Mama and Papa.