absence.

I have been absent from the blog-world since Friday for a very unfortunate and heartbreaking reason. 

David's MeMaw, who just so happened to become one of my favorite ladies over the last year & a half, became absent from the world and present with The Spirit on January 30, 2012. 

She was born on August 11, 1936, and she had many, many brothers and sisters. She was a GREAT cook who loved her animals, and spend so much time outside practicing her green thumb in the garden. She had many flowers and trees planted, but she also had a garden full of vegetables, a passel of chickens, many goldfish, cats, and dogs! 

I remember going to her house with David one day and we walked around her yard while she told me about each of her plants, flowers, and trees. She then showed me out to the chicken coop where she told me where the laid their eggs and where she fed and watered them. 

She always accepted me - from day one. 

I can remember the second time I went over to see her with David, someone called and asked what she was doing. 

She replied, "I'm talking to Dave and his fiancé!" 

Once she hung up the phone, she laughed and said, "The whole town of Butler will be calling to see when ya'll are gettin' married now!"  

She was one of the sweetest women I have ever known. She was simple, laid back, and kind spirited. She reminded me so much of my Dad's mom (my grandma), and that will always mean so much to me. I feel like being around her helped me remember things about my grandmother that I had forgotten.  From the first time I met her, she greeted me with open arms, and she did until the very last day I saw her. 

I'll always be thankful that I hugged her neck while she kissed my cheek and we exchanged "I love you's" before leaving just two short weeks ago.

 I will miss Sunday lunches at her house when she cooked way more than we could ever imagine!

Everything from creamed corn to cornbread - every week when we came, she always had plenty, and she always made sure to have butter beans because she knew I loved them! 

I will miss her telling me goodbye & that she loves me, just as she told her own grandchildren. 

I'll always be grateful for her taking the time to sit down with me and write down a recipe, David's favorite recipe of hers, for me to keep in my own recipe book. I knew that was special, but I didn't realize HOW special it was until I found out this weekend that she didn't write down recipes for many people. She kept them in her head, and she never used a cookbook. 

I'm telling ya'll, she was a phenomenal lady.

As sad as I feel about it, you can only imagine how it is for her actual family. 

David's relationship with her always made my heart smile, and she loved him & Gabrielle SO much. 

They loved her just as much.

I loved being with them while they were with her because they were always laughing and joking about something, and she seemed to glow when they were around. 

It was strange staying with David this weekend and having to refrain from asking, "Have you talked to Memaw?"

It was weird pulling into her driveway knowing that she wouldn't be waiting for us on the carport. 

 It will be different not waking up on Sunday mornings at David's & getting ready to go see her, 

not sitting on the porch in a rocking chair watching her and David swing on the porch swing, 

or sitting at the kitchen table talking about her chickens, cats, and dogs,

 or picking with her about Auburn football or Braves baseball,

 or hear her fussing at the dogs.

It was so sweet to hear all of the people she knew come up to David and I this weekend and tell us how much she adored David and Gabrielle, and how much she loved me as well. 

I loved her too, and as it always is when someone leaves us - we wish we had more time with them. 

We wish we had more time to talk with them, love them, or just sit on the porch with them. 

I will always cherish the time we spent with her, and the relationship that we nurtured, but most of all - I will miss watching her love her grandchildren with her entire being. 

Her battle was probably longer than any of us knew about, but she never wanted anyone to know she was in pain. 

So, while my absence means nothing compared to the absence of life we celebrated this past weekend, she is far better off than any of us here on earth are.

Gabrielle let me make a ribbon to wear to visitation and the

funeral Saturday. Memaw loved Auburn. 

I hold on tight to the words spoken by the preacher Saturday. He told us that now she is probably planting beautiful gardens in Heaven alongside those who have proceeded her in death, and that makes for such a happy image for me. 

I hold tight to the vision of her swinging on a porch swing with Jesus by her side, and that makes the hole in my heart a little easier filled. 

Please contine to pray for David, Gabrielle, and the rest of her family who miss her dearly here on earth. A portion of their lives have been removed, and no one will ever be able to fulfill it. Although they know she is at peace and no longer suffering, it is still a tough burden to bear. 

"Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord." 

-2 Corinthians 5:8