I am really enjoying making this thankful list. It hasn’t been at all hard to come up with items that I am thankful for at all. I know that I am blessed and I have way more blessings than I could list anyway.
Today is my grandparents’ 59th anniversary and I am taking today to be thankful for Pop and Gran-Gran. My grandparents have always had a very special place in my heart and always will. Growing up, we spent a lot of time with them which built so many wonderful memories. They live out in the country, so we always had plenty of room to run and play. When we got older, we rode go-carts, a mini-motorbike and 3-wheelers all over their place. They have a pond where we used to fish and even swim. Their house was like home to my brother Charlie and me. I absolutely treasure the many memories we have with Gran-Gran and Pop.
When Charlie and I were growing up, we called them Jack and Gran. Yes, Jack is Pop’s “real” name and we always called him that. When I was little, I called him Granddaddy, but Charlie changed all that when he started talking and we called him “Jack” from that point. He loved it! He never had a problem when we called him that even though some people did. Not Jack, he let it be special between us. I called Gran “Granny” when I was little, but Charlie changed that too and “Gran” stuck with her. Macey is the one that renamed them “Pop” and “Gran-Gran” which is really sweet too. No matter what name we call them, it’s always done in love and admiration.
I could tell many a story about our time with Gran-Gran and Pop. There were the times when we’d go swimming after school in the pond and Jack would bring out a john boat for us to try to sink it in the pond. We could never sink that thing!! Jack would often take me hunting with him even though he knew that with me in a tree stand, he’d never really get a shot at a deer. (What, with me eating crackers and whispering, etc.) We used to go camping in the summers and always loved going out on the boat when Pop drive us around the lake. Gran taught me a lot , especially in the kitchen. She showed me how to make yummy “cat head” (aka – BIG) biscuits from scratch. She took us with her when she would go to visit the shut-ins of her church and we got to see a beautiful ministry in action in addition to meeting some wonderful people. When we got sick, Gran-Gran would baby us just a little bit longer than necessary sometimes. And, she always let us have coffee milk which we thought was out of this world. Those are only a few of the many great memories I have been blessed to form with my grandparents.
Pop and Gran-Gran have been married 59 years today. That’s so amazing. And, what is awesome to me is that you can still tell just how much they love each other today. It’s beautiful and I thank God that their love created our family. We are so blessed!
