Today is my Maw Maw
Dancy's 86
th birthday. Realizing this is one of the last birthday's she'll celebrate here on earth I'd like to make it as special as possible. Maw Maw is in the last stages of her battle with
Alzheimer's disease.
As a child I was my Maw Maw's shadow. Where she was I was. I had a weekly ritual of spending Friday nights at her house. Some of my fondest childhood memories include eating her fried squash and okra, spending weekends with family at her mountain home, carrying around the pink satin blanket she made for me, going to
Wal-mart or any grocery store (I was her shopping buddy), visiting her mother (my great grandmother) in the retirement home, assisting her with weddings (she directed her fair share back in the day) and listening to her
reminisce about her childhood.
Some of my particularly favorite memories to note: I was no more than 3 years old. We had been in Greensboro at my Uncle Greg and Aunt Myra's wedding. Tyler and I were fussing in the back seat on the way home. I started pitching a fit- Maw Maw started singing "I'll Fly Away" and I hushed- unfortunately for her she had to sing it the whole way home to keep me quiet!
-The Golf Cart Accident! We were at the lake for a family reunion. We were going to take the boat out. Dad and Tyler were waiting on us at the marina. Maw Maw, Aunt
Bev and I were going to take the golf cart. I insisted that "I could drive, that I knew how." I couldn't have been more than 11 or 12 at the time (well under legal driving age). So here we are- I'm driving, Maw Maw sitting beside me and Aunt
Bev on the back. I must have not had a good sense of direction either... I took the first turn "its a short cut". Before I knew it we were at the top of a steep hill. I've got this I thought.
Hmmm.. instead of pressing the breaks I pressed the gas! Yes the gas! We flew down the hill...had to have been 100+ mph! I literally saw my life flash before me! The golf cart landed on its side throwing us all out. God was watching after us. His angels working over time. I walked away with asphalt burns on my ankle and foot. Aunt
Bev broke her wrist and Maw Maw with a
severely bruised him. The golf cart stayed in one piece with just a cracked top. Needless to say I
received my fair share of driving jokes.
-We were at her mountain home. A group from church was camping out. We were having a fishing
tournament. I was 9 years old. I was standing at the water's edge when 4 year old Kenneth slipped right on in the water! No adults were close enough by to even know what was happening. I ran to the house and Maw Maw came flying- in ever so calm a manner- she stooped down, pulled him out by his shirt collar and yelled across the lake to his daddy "You
shoulda been
watchin'! Good thing his mama's not here or you'd be in hot water!"
Things my Maw Maw is known for: she ran her own florist "Lakewood Florist" out of her basement for 25 years, the many get-
togethers she hosted, her yeast rolls, her funny sense of humor (acts she used to put on), talking on the phone 24/7 and her smile which earned her the name "Sister Sunshine".
Maw Maw has been through a lot in her lifetime. She was the oldest girl of 9 children- caring for her 7 younger
siblings she earned the name "Sis". She stood faithfully by my grandfather's side as he battled
mystenia gravis for 17 years. She lost her mother in 1994. Her husband in 1995. Suffered a stroke (that she never fully
recuperated from) in 1996. And perhaps the hardest thing a mother would ever had to deal with is the loss of a child- her daughter
Bev passed away the Christmas of 1997 from diabetic complications. Even in the face of all her losses she never lost her joy. Perhaps that's why her nickname "Sister Sunshine" is even more meaningful.
One of the last trips my grandmother took was a 6 hour ride to watch me graduate from Lee University. Shortly afterwards her health began to rapidly
deteriorate. This February marks the 2 year anniversary of putting her in the retirement home. The Lord has been with us every step of the way. Her transition into the retirement home was
smoothe. She never once asked to go home- the comfort of knowing she would always have someone at her call is probably what made things so easy. She moved into her own room at the retirement home and preferred to be left alone. She didn't participate in many activities. This bewildered us because she had always been such a social butterfly. Sadly this was the realization for us that she had began to "slip away" into a world all her own-
alzheimers. Its hard to see her in the shape she is in- its like she isn't "there" anymore. She wears a puzzled look on her face, her eyes show she's not sure how to make sense of it all- but start quoting scripture or singing a hymn and she knows them
every word. Some days are better than others. Catch her on a good day and she'll know you by name. She doesn't have much to say, but she does have a smile on her face 24/7.
Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful Grandmother. Thank you for the heritage she has given me and my family. Thank you for the life she has led. Bless her abundantly on her 86th birthday. You oh Lord know the number of days ordained for her life. I trust that you will lead and guide her until you call her home. Use her for your the advancement of your kingdom. May her caregivers and friends see you, Jesus, in her smile. Amen.
An army box hid
I'm a geocaching pirate! 
We thought we found one....
