In Honor of Grandparents Day, I’d like to briefly share with all of you just how blessed Lane and I are with grandparents.

Growing up, I had the absolute BEST grandparents. I was blessed with two sets of grandparents and two great grandmothers in my lifetime that I actually grew up knowing. We were fortunate enough to all live in the same state, relatively close, within driving distance and saw each other frequently. I recall countless weekends, alternating between each of my grandparents houses, staying with them while my parents worked or traveled.

My grandparents came from very different backgrounds which made our upbringing with each side of our family different but none the less, always fun!

My mom’s parents, Grandmama and Poppy, were, let’s say prim and proper. We always had stricter rules, set meals and such with them. BUT we took lavish trips with them. I recall going to Graceland with my Poppy and thinking, “Wow!! This place is so fancy!!” Grandmama always drove nice cars with leather interior and as a child, I just thought that was for rich people. We had some great camping trips with them through the years as well to the lake and to Oklahoma. They taught us about Sunday Family Dinners after church and large holiday meals, something I will always remember and cherish. My Poppy was always the life of the party. He was the glue. That all changed when he grew his angel wings when I was 8 years old. Nothing was ever quite the same.

My dad’s parents were definitely opposite. Pawpaw and Mawmaw were super laid back and let us rule the roost within limits. We were allowed donuts, Mr. Good bars, BlueBell ice cream, and a trip to Braum’s just about any time we asked. They taught us ways of life you can’t read in a book. As I got older, I just naturally got closer to them and I am really not sure why, even to this day.  Mawmaw taught me how to cook. Pawpaw taught me how to garden. They even covered for me a time or two when I had missed curfew (at the age of 18 or 19 still living at home) saying I was staying with them when I was really out doing something I probably shouldn’t have been doing. I eventually moved across the street from Pawpaw when I was older and had a newborn baby. Every day, Pawpaw came to check on us. Both of these sweet souls are in the gates of Heaven and Lord, do I miss them. 

I often wondered what my parents would be like as grandparents, not knowing what I envisioned would be ultimately cut extremely short for my mom. In her short four and a half years as a Grammy, she was the best!!! She outdid herself, I promise you. She played in the floor with trains, she ate nasty Gerber foods to prove they tasted yummy, she slept crazy hours with Lane while I worked nightshift, she attended every single event in my absence…she loved him more than anyone could ever love him.

Grammy was always accompanied by Pappy! We’ve always said Lane is the boy of the family that Pappy never had. Lane is definitely dad’s pride and joy. To watch my dad teach Lane things such as swimming, fishing, hunting, paintball stuff, building science projects, riding a bike….all of those things that are manly…it’s so different than the man I grew up with. I see so much of my Pawpaw in Lane’s Pappy, including his walk and hard of hearing! HAHA!! We (I more than Lane) would be lost without this man…for real.

Through my life choices, I struggled with the fact that Lane wouldn’t have grandparents that I had. He wouldn’t have the stability that I had. I wouldn’t have a mother in law or father in law that I could just call when my dad wasn’t unavailable. This bothered me tremendously through my first divorce and throughout my second marriage/divorce as my in-law’s were not the most reliable. I prayed and prayed and prayed about this after my divorce. One day I realized, we are abundantly blessed with grandparents all around us, who says they have to be blood? NO ONE!!!!  There are angels all around us that help me with Lane on a daily basis…our Grandparents, the Earthly Angels!!

With that, Happy Grandparents Day to all of the grandparents in our lives! Thank you to those that help us on a daily basis with everything! We love you!!