A Letter From Grandma
Over the holidays I went over to my parent’s home and they had pulled out a box of memories from my childhood. My mom pulled a letter out of the box from my grandmother that was dated 35 years ago. I think about my grandma a lot and probably even daily. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I mention her often and what I learned from her. She was an angel on earth, very faithful, and never said a bad word about anyone. As I read the letter and saw her penmanship, I became emotional. I wasn’t sad, I was grateful. I am grateful for having such an amazing woman in my life. As I am writing this, I had another memory pop into my mind. She was extremely particular about grammar and her writing. She would correct herself regularly from the old habits of growing up in the hills of Kentucky. She knew better but out of habit, she would drop her g’s and add a preposition at the end of a sentence while never losing her thick Kentuckian accent. I loved her. I love her. I saw a woman who showed love to those who probably didn’t necessarily deserve it. However, as she would say, “Everyone deserves love.” Her brother Charles was four years older than her and was most like her and she was closest to him of all of her siblings. He was always very protective of her. He was Colonel Jordan. Everyone called him that as it was an honor serving our country and ranking that highly. He was a college graduate of Marshall University and grandma was so proud of him. Grandma did not attend college but was constantly reading, writing stories and learning. Grandma was intelligent. Very.
Well, I got off on a little tangent there. Grandma and grandpa lived in Ohio part of the year and had a home in Florida where they would live during the colder months. Grandma would write letters to all of her family. The one that mom pulled out of the box was attached to a school newspaper. The letter was acknowledging me being crowned homecoming queen. After she congratulated me and let me know she was proud of me she said, “Glad you don’t let compliments go to your head. You seem to stay the same sweet person.” I guess I knew it then, but I definitely know it now-the compliment was not about a title, it was about being a good person.
Titles, money and possessions can be lost, taken, and stolen but the person we are to the core can not. Be humble and kind.
Thank you grandma for the beautiful legacy you left our family and those who knew you.