PDP Exclusives by Rebecca

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Remembering a Treasure

Momma (Mamaw) Our Beloved Most Precious Treasure!


I still can not believe that one week ago, we buried Momma! She may have left this place we all call home, but she is Singing with the Angels and rocking them babies in the presence of our Lord! She has no more pain or suffering of any kind! She is blessed!

Now us on the other hand, are still mourning! And I will be frank, it SUCKS!!! I never knew I could hurt this much!!!!! The hole in my heart is more than an ache!!! I try to find comfort in scripture, in the memories, in music, but today, nothing is working! I am probably having one of the hardest days yet! I want my Momma!!!!

Momma, you may have left us here, but you will forever be missed and always loved!!!! Her obituary is here!

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4



Below are some pictures of the last few years, just to get a glipse of who she was, and what she means to us!


BEAUTY
The above picture was taken just this past May at our family reunion! We always had the best time, and it sure always made Momma happy to have us all together! We would laugh and laugh and even laugh some more! It was really a great time!!! This picture captures just how beautiful she was! And her beautiful blue eyes!!!! Momma you were the most beautiful inside and out!!!


Singing and Rocking
This past March, Momma was captured doing what she loved most, singing and rocking them babies! This time it was her sweet little name sake. Lil K is named after her Mamaw, and this is taken after the adoption was final that day! It is still one of my most favorite pictures of the two of them!!!!!! Pure sweetness!!!!


This was taken back in Nov 2006, of Lil E and Mamaw rocking on the porch swing!!! I can't believe how time has flown since that day, nearly 4 years ago! She sure loved that swing!!! And Her baby girl was out there in a dress that her Mamaw so lovingly painted for her! How special!!!!!

Momma loved her music! She loved Gospel most of all! And the songs she sang to us forever and always, were In the Lord's Army, Winter wonderland (that I really thought was a lullabye until 2nd grade), A Friend in Jesus, and Jesus Loves me.

COMFORT
In Oct 2007, Mamaw was here for a visit, and Lil E had a several trips to the ER and then was admitted to the hospital. I can't imagine getting through that time without Momma! She would sit with us and from the beginning of visiting hours to the end each night! She took care of the pets, and got Daddy off to work too! And would hold Lil E and comfort her like no one else could! Just like she always did me!!!!! She just had a way to bring comfort to anyone in their time of need or dark spot!!!


UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Momma was getting into scrapbooking with me! We had so much fun each time we worked on pages together! What great memories we made while scrapbooking some of our favorite previous memories together! It was tons of fun and lots of GREAT hours of talks!!!! Momma was a talker, and never judged you, for anything you did or felt! She was the most loving person in this world! And her love was pure and unconditional!!!!


FAMILY
Momma, Lil K, and Me! What a beautiful day! Again it was adoption day, but this is a super special picture of me, with my baby girl and my momma! One of the only one of us three! Momma was so proud of this day, after a long wait, and many faithful prayers, it came to be!!! Family was everything to Momma, she didn't care if it was biological or not, or if they were just kids that said she was their mom or even 2nd mom, or even more joy, their Mamaw! She was proud of each and every one of her family and loved us all!!! And most of all she loved her son in laws and grandson in laws, just like they were her very own!!!! What a tribute to just how much she loved her family!!!! Just ask my husband, who totally considered her his mom, because she was that special!!!!


CHURCH
She loved her Lord most of all, and wanted everyone she knew to know about salvation! She was the true Proverbs 31 Women! She was that example to all of us! She prayed many times for all of her kids and grandkids to be saved and serving the Lord, but never once judges any for their choice of Religion! Of course she prayed and wanted everyone of the kids and grandkids to be saved, but she never once judged us for being less than what she wanted or hoped for! Even when we made mistakes, she was still there for us, just like we were perfect! She never made any of us feel like we weren't good enough! And she always taught us, no matter how good or bad, she was there for us! And she would always love us, just might not like what we did or was doing, but her love for us was unconditional!!! She encouraged us to live to our dreams and do our best, because NOTHING was ever impossible!!! She loved here Sisters and Brothers in Christ, and she loved serving the Lord in all she did! This was taken this very past Easter Sunday! We were all at their Church before Services started! It was the Best Church Service ever!!!!


GRANDKIDS
Above she is holding Lil K for the very first time!!!!! Yes rocking and singing to her!! How sweet it was!!! Funny thing, is Lil K grew past a year, she didn't want anyone to rock her to sleep at night or nap time, except Mamaw!!!

Below, she was having a great time making her famous Christmas bows, and teaching Lil E how to do them too!!! She delighted in her bows on packages and was glad that Lil E wanted to make them like Momma and Mamaw!!! No ones bows compared to Mamaw's bows though, that's for sure!!!! But we had lots of fun shopping for ribbon, for trinkets, paper, and then making our packages look so beautiful together!!!!




FUN
Mamaw was all bundled up for the local Christmas parade in 2008, and she had as much fun as all the kids! She was the biggest kid! She took me on my first roller coaster, my first upside down roller coaster, when I really wasn't tall enough! She taught me so much! She went to concerts, rodeo, shopping and everything else with all of us! She loved going to the races with us too! She loved playing games with all of us, and let me tell you, no one could beat her at Rummy!!! We had fun on vacation and going places together! She was a GREAT shopper too!!!! She loved crafts, especially painting! I will forever treasure my painted items from her! We had many great times at the lake, river, riding go karts, and just doing so much stuff! She loved going to the zoo with us, and loved just sitting out watching the kids play! She was all about lots of fun, no matter what, we always had fun!!! Oh wait, what about all the nights at the carnivals, and how we would ride the scrambler a million times! Momma and Me!!!!! Or how she would make the full week of the KSCS Country Fair, year after year with all of us!!! She would make sure we made some memories too!!! Or the endless Santa and Christmas tree suckers we made! She is the reason we love yahtzee and skipbo!

Mamaw and Lil E playing games!

a picture of Mamaw, Lil E and P at the races!!!

Here we are with Momma at the Zoo!


For sure, by far, my 3 most favorite girls ever and for always!!!!!!!!!! I am who I am because of Momma, and I will be the best Momma I can because of her! Growing up, when everyone else wanted to be whatever they wanted, all I wanted to be was a Stay at Home Mom, just like her! Because she was the BESTEST!!!!!!! She cooked the best dinners for our family, and to this day, NO ONE can make pork chops, like Momma's!!! She would bake us home made cookies all the time! And my most favorite recipe of all, was Meemaw's (Momma's Mom). They are one of my favorite to this day!!! She spoiled us all! She treated each of us, like we were the ONLY ones! And I can never thank her enough for all she did for each of us!!! I hope and pray that I can be just half as good as she was!!!! Momma, I love you more than you can ever imagine!!!!!!!!


The BEST WIFE
Here is a picture of Momma and Daddy, and they were watching from their front porch at the Lake, all of us kids act crazy and like fools! But more importantly they were side by side!!! And that is how they were! The love they had for each other was deeper than I can even describe! The two of them have been through some of the toughest of times and made it, because they had each other! They loved each other unconditionally! And they sure were proud to be with the other! My sister and I was talking today, that NEVER once did you hear Momma say a bad word or call Daddy a name! No matter what he did that aggravated her, she loved him, and it hurt her if anyone in this world was upset with him! In her eyes you could be mad at her all you wanted, but never Daddy! She loved him and they life they had made together!!!! She stood beside him in the darkest of times, surgeries, poverty, illness, and so much more! But she knew they were forever bound together!!!!!! She loved him more than any other wife I have ever witnessed love their husband! And I wanted a marriage just like they had! And I thank God every day, that he blessed me with a husband like I have, I just hope and pray I can be a wife like my momma was!!!!

There you have just a small glimpse of who Momma was!!!! She was the most remarkable person I have ever known! The most loving, the true unconditional love, the most giving (literally give you the shirt off her back), the strongest, the most faithful, the funnest, most hard working, the best CARE GIVER of all, and I could never end with the good, about my momma! You know I honestly can't say one bad thing about her!! She was our everything!!!!!!!!!!!!

And during our time of sorrow, we came to realize, that many others, that we didn't even realize, came to say goodbye to her, and share with us, just how special she was to them! Like when she carried a friend into the funeral home to see her mother in law in the casket, because the friend was too scared to go alone. Or all the times Mamaw cooked for the group of her kids or grandkids friends while they stopped by for warm meal and a place to sleep. Or the times she cooked to feed those that she knew were hungry, when they themselves would never ask! Or the times she paid someones bill when they couldn't afford to make it, when really she didn't have it to spare! Or the time her and dad opened their home up to complete strangers, during the hurricane. They had no where to go, and couldn't afford a campsite with their tent. So they didn't just let them camp out side, they opened the house up and demanded them to stay inside with us, and become part of our family. Or all the talks that each had with just her, when no one else knew she was their rock too!!! How many people she opened not only her heart up to, but her home, and gave them a roof over their head, a full belly, and a warm place to snuggle in at night or day for that matter! Or was out having fun with them too!! Momma was really something special!!!!! What a beautiful treasure and legacy!!!

Momma, I am lost without you, but I know you are in Heaven, helping to prepare a place for us! We Love you, Momma, and miss you every single day!!!! But you are in our hearts forever!!!!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

3 comments:

Victoria said...

Thanks for sharing with us a glimpse of your mom! I'm so sorry you lost her but one day you'll have her back! She really seems like she was an amazing lady.

Mellie said...

Aw, what great pictures and memories. You have a tough road ahead of you. For me, it got much worse before it got better. It still hurts, but it's different. It will get better and one day those memories won't hurt so much.

Stephanie Harbin said...

An awesome tribute to your mom and your memories. love you...