We will soon celebrate another Mother's day....to our Mom...grammy....meme it will be just another day. She will not be able to understand why we are celebrating a day for just Mother's. I have asked the family to share some of their fond memories about her. To some she is known as Grammy, others call her Meme and to her children she is Mom.
Nancy Love (daughter)
The past 12 months have been extremely hard. It started last May...to be exact the Friday after Mother's Day 2013. Dad was admitted to the hospital with a severe UTI. Up until that time he was her 24/7 caregiver. There were days we did not think he would ever come home. It was during this time that Mom really began her decline with Alzheimer's. It is very sad to watch your Mom go from knowing and understanding to not knowing exactly who you are and what is actually going on. I have said many times you have to laugh to keep from crying, but the tears do come more than I want to admit. Mom has always been so strong and loving to all of us and I pray that can be said of me. The one thing I keep remembering is how much music did and still does mean to Mom. Last fall, Jim Van Matre (a former Minister of Music at Rehoboth Baptist Church) came by Northlake Gardens to visit mom and dad. Jim played the piano and Mom sang every word of those gospel songs that he played. It was a sweet, sweet time. As the days have drifted by, Mom only knows who we are sometimes. I know it will only get harder as she slips away more but she is still 'Mama' to me. I love you Mom and Happy Mother's Day.
Patrick Smith (grandson)
Some of my fondest memories are sitting on the couch playing cards, mostly Rummy, with Meme. She also would come and watch my baseball and basketball games, from the time I played t-ball all the way to my senior year. She watched me in the afternoons after we got out of school and she would make snacks for me.....cutting up an apple or fixing a bowl of strawberries and cool whip. She was always singing or humming around the house. Long story short I remember her willingness to go out of her way to anything I asked or anything she knew would be beneficial for me.
Andy Love (grandson)
I remember as a kid sitting outside with Meme on the carport and eating watermelon. She showed me how to spit the seeds in the bushes. I also remember going to Daytona and she and Papa would sit in the shade by the pool and she would always come home with a better tan than any of us who were in the pool or sat in the sun all week. It seems as though her favorite past time, aside from watching her grandsons play baseball, was just sitting outside in the carport. She wanted to be out front where she could see what was going on in the neighborhood. My son was born a little over three years ago and on Christmas Eve we walked in with 8 day old Caden....it only seemed right to walk straight to her and let her be the first one at the party to hold him....he was her great grandson. Now I have a daughter on the way, I hope to repeat this and let her hold her great granddaughter after she arrives in August. As tough as it is to watch her go through this awful disease, it make sense to hold on to these memories I have. I will always love my Meme and enjoy sharing the memories that could go on forever.
Susan Holdrich (granddaughter)
There are many great moments of sweet Gram's...first she was lovely. She was warm, she loved, she laughed, she loved her TV story "All My Children", she loved her church, she loved where she grew up, she loved Pops.....she loved all of us. She let Nicki and I sit at her feet (when we little and even as adults) and fight for 'sitting space' for her special head rubs and back scratches. She loved well and most of all we loved her. Some of the best days with her was picking Chris up on the way home from school, eating lunch with her and watching what Erica Kane was up too. I loved it most when all of the cousins were there for lunch, always crazy getting everyone's hands washed and to the table. I loved catching up with her at the beach and sharing Peanut Butter M&M's with her. Today, my heart breaks, slowly observing what Alzheimer's can do to a person, her heart and especially our heart. At times, she is in the present, even if for just a few moments. She is still beautiful, she is still love, she is still my Gram's.....mostly she is loved by her family.
Scott Magnus (grandson)
To me she is Grammy. I remember her playing the piano in the living room and she also let the kids play the piano....mainly we just banged on the keys. I remember a Labor Day 17 nearly 18 years ago, it is a memory very similar to Andy's that was just a few years ago. The family got together and being a proud new dad I handed my first born, Madison, to her to hold. Any time we had a new addition the tradition continued....Grammy was given the honor to hold the newborn for the first time. That is my fondest memory--proud daddy handing the baby to his Grammy.
Diane Chadwick (daughter)
MOM.....where do I begin. I have to agree with all of these special memories that are mentioned and then some. I remember coming home from the hospital over 40 years ago with my first born, Susan, as a 21 year old. In 'those days' you could not climb stairs after the birth of a baby so we went to stay with mom & dad for a week. She helped me care for Susan and taught me how to take care of a baby. When we went home we were really on our own but I knew what to do. When I had to go back to work....I did not have to put Susan in day care, mom cared for her everyday. Then we moved to Florida when Susan was 18 months old and all of our hearts were broken. I think I cried the entire trip to Florida. Mom was always the one who held the family together....any holiday was celebrated at her house with all the family. She cooked and cleaned and then she could never sit down to enjoy the meal...she was always refilling tea glasses. We did not move back to ATL until Susan was in the 7th grade....our house sold quickly in SC and we had no place to live so mom said come live with us. So we moved in and stayed with them from January-April when we found our new home and moved. My kids lived in the living room and had their clothes in boxes....they camped out and loved it. She offered up her baby sitting services again when Christopher was born, she quit her job and kept both Christopher and Preston as babies. They were 11 days apart so she basically had twins to take care of and she was in her late 50's. I don't know if she ever knew how grateful we all were for her unselfishness on taking care of both the boys. She was a rock for me when I went through a divorce and was there for me when Jim and I announced we were getting married. Mom has been through it all with all of her children. She has the biggest heart and loved us all unconditionally. She is loved more than she knows.....these days she may not remember us by name but when we visit her, she knows it is someone she knows and that she is loved. We celebrate this Mother's Day with mom in memory care, she may not remember who we are and why we are celebrating this day but we all now what a special place she has in our hearts. We all love you MOM.
