103!

Today would have been my Great-Grandma Lillian's 103 birthday...oh how I wish she were still here! I am pretty sure we would have made a trip to St. Louis to see her. But, Old Grandma went to be with the Lord a few days after Evy was born. I didn't even have a chance to tell her about my new daughter. And she won't get to meet the twins. I am sure she is too busy praising up in heaven to look down on us, but I hope that one day she will get to meet my whole family- including Autumn.

There is lots of things I remember about Grandma. She was a very independent woman as she lost her husband in her early 50s due to an accident. Of course I never met my great-grandpa, but I am sure he was a good man. She worked in factories and always wore polyester pant suits to church. She lived with or next door to her son and DIL after the accident. She ate well. None of this non-fat, low-carb junk. She ate bread and cookies. She baked cakes and made bacon and eggs for breakfast. For as long as I knew her only complaint was some arthritis and bunions-which she aided with 8 extra strength Tylenol each day. She lived 98 years in her own place. She liked to watch soaps and listen to Ray Stevens music and the Grand Old Opry. In the summers we would spend time at the farm and take walks down the road together- usually to get the mail. The smell of fresh woods takes me back to that place every time! She loved her dog Buttons and dressed a cement goose on her porch. She was afraid of falling and not being able to get herself up- so she devised a plan to scoot herself outside and use the goose to stable herself to be able swing her legs off the porch and stand up without help. This well thought out plan was going to be practiced, until we ratted her out. The only thing she didn't account for was how to get the front door open while she was laying on the ground... I have many treasured trikets from her that remind me of our days together. I am so thankful she was able to see me get married and follow my first pregnancy. Oh, how I wish she were here to share in the joy of Madelyn and Jackson too!

Happy 103rd Birthday Lillian Ann Mantle.