A Tribute To My Granny

I can hardly believe it has been 3 years already since my Granny went home to be with the Lord. Some days it seems like just yesterday I was sitting on her couch talking to her about life and believe you me she had many stories to tell me. Then there are some days where it feels like she has been gone forever because so much has happened in the 3 years she's been gone. I got married, graduated college with my Bachelor's degree in Psychology, bought 2 new little Dachshund puppies that she would've loved, moved almost 3,000 miles across the country to a town I had never heard of let alone lived in before. I remember she always called me adventurous and said that I had a lot of living to do. She must have been right because boy have I experienced so much these past few years not to mention why lies ahead for my husband and I.

She was so incredibly happy for me when she found out Richie had asked me to marry him. She said, "Oh good you've finally found your soulmate, I am so happy for you two". Right after then I started planning the wedding and she was the one who told me to make it however we wanted it and not to be coerced into doing things that we didn't want. I wasn't able to get much advice about wedding stuff from my Granny as we got engaged September 2nd, 2005 and she passed away on October 15, 2005. There was one area where she made sure to talk to me about. It was about living for Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. She talked to me about always remembering to keep God in the middle of our marriage and He would always take care of us as long as we had our eyes fixed on Him. I have never forgotten those words and I hold them close to my heart every day. She was right about so many things. Though she wasn't there physically at our wedding I felt her presence very much so. I left open a chair for her and I put a beautiful rose on that chair to symbolize that she was indeed with us in spirit. We played the song holes in the floor of heaven and it touched everyone who was there to share our day with us. I could almost see her smiling down on us and saying, "I love you precious ones". It wasn't by any means a time of sadness, other the other hand, it was a time of celebration and a way for my Granny to be "there" with us as we became husband and wife.

Something else that I remember about my Granny is that she loved to take drives and admire the beauty that God had created. She use to come and pick me up from daycare and ask if I wanted to go for a nice drive. Well of course I always to and the best part was the ice cream that I knew my Granny would almost always pick up along the way. Yum! She's the person who got me hooked on ice cream, milkshakes, or even a root beer float from A & W once in awhile. My Granny could always come up with an occasion to have an ice cream. I can say the tradition continues to this day in my own household. We love ice cream and every once in awhile like to have a treat. Yum yum!

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One last thing that I remember about my Granny and loved so much was her prayer life. She was one who prayed faithfully for hours. She was so amazing and we all felt the power of her prayers. I remember getting to spend the night at my Granny's house many times while growing up. It would be bedtime and she would start saying her prayers while she was down on her knees. Many hours later I would wake up and she would have fallen asleep while saying her prayers. She sure was my faithful prayer warrior. She would pray for our President, the Pastor of her church, family members, friends, and just about anything else that came to her mind. She would always tell me to pray about whatever was going on in my life and God would work it all out. She said, "pray about it and just let go of it and give it over to God". It was in giving it all over to God that I found a certain kind of peace, the peace that only God can grant.

Granny I miss you so very much! There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of you and remember all of our memories and good times that we got to share together. You made a special impact on my life. I often find myself doing things the same way that you did and it brings a smile to my face. I learned so much from you. The most important thing you taught me was to live one day at a time and live for God!

IN MEMORY OF
EVELYN LORINE HATCHER
(1919-2005)

~Lorine Hatcher Fender