Monday, June 18, 2018
Betty always made me feel accepted. From our first meeting, she made me feel comfortable and welcomed. In our early conversations, we laughed about our shared experiences, though we were a generation apart - growing up in small towns, with mothers who never drove a car, raising crops and slaughtering our own livestock (and that slightly gray beef).
When Keith and I decided to have our wedding at her home, she was thrilled. Twenty-one years later, I still look back on that day as a perfect, joyful day, made possible by her special gift for hosting and an absolutely beautiful setting. It has been a particular sweetness to stand in that spot where we married, right there in her living room, in front of the fireplace, every time we visit. Knowing how much I loved her son, she always made me feel loved. I will miss her so much.
She always made us feel that our children, with their unique differences, were loved. She made us feel supported in all that we've done to try to help them; I cannot begin to express how much that meant to us. She made each of them feel loved. As an adult, Elliott grew closer to Grammy, bonding over shared interests and more time for visits alone together. The truths she spoke into his life these last years were life-changing and he is a more content, more mature adult because of the deep bond they developed. Caleb and Callie each have special routines at Grammy's house, things they love to do there. She made wonderful memories with them - dyeing eggs every Easter, swinging on the porch, making S'Mores around the fire pit, kayaking and paddle boating on the lake. They love to come to Grammy's and to talk about it in their own special ways. They will all miss her so much.
Betty was a wonderful ambassador for the mountain - we used to call her a "one-woman Chamber of Commerce." The only place I ever knew her was here, living on her "home place," as we Southerners say, here on the mountain. Her love of this place was obvious and it was contagious - long-time friends, extended family and invited guests came often and talked about how they wished to come more.
As she reached her 80th birthday earlier this year, we took to calling her "invincible" - beating cancer twice, standing up to the long-term effects of chemotherapy, living alone despite new and continuing health issues, even fearlessly handling a bizarre break-in, we thought she could weather any storm. It is still surprising somehow that she did not. Last week, as we sat in her living room talking, I kept expecting her to walk in from the kitchen.
I am blessed to be married to Betty's son; I am blessed to say that she was more than a mother-in-law to me. Our children are blessed to have had these years to know their Grammy; her first lymphoma diagnosis came while I was pregnant with our daughter and our youngest son was only a year old. She was given the gift of these 13 years, and she lived them well. We are blessed that she did. Although we will always feel her spirit in her home, on this mountain, we will miss her so much.
