{ Happy Heavenly Anniversary }

Yes, I'm sharing this foto of the Iris once again because today is the 7th anniversary of my Mamaw going to heaven. The minister who presided over her graveside service read Proverbs 31 saying he'd never used that scripture for another Lady before.   She passed away on May 7, 2011, the day before Mother's Day, just 4 months shy of her 100th birthday!  This woman was my role model as a grandmother because she was the absolute epitome of one.

(although I CANNOT cook/bake like her.....

but Jess can! Jess also shares part of Mamaw's name....Leigh)

We spent many summer days at her house when we were just kids (my cousins and my brother and me) drinking grape Kool-Aid from a half gallon jar she kept in the refrigerator and eating vanilla cream-filled cookies! She fried the best tasting hamburgers in an iron skillet and don't even get me started on her biscuits and "stickies" (cinnamon rolls) and strawberry cobbler and fried chicken!  My cousin, Carol, and I stayed there a lot on Friday nights and Mamaw would get up early the next morning and make us the best breakfast ever! I distinctly remember Carol and me getting into an argument once over what I don't know and Mamaw made us hug each other and makeup. 
Now, that I didn't like!

I remember mud pies in jar lids and making "salad" from mimosa leaves and how the mimosa blossoms smelled like peaches.....
swinging on the back porch swing and the old green glider and metal chairs.....
learning to ride a bike one summer on my Aunt Delores' blue bike.....
helping dig taters and sticking my hand into a rotten one.....
helping water the cattle and slop the hogs and the not so pleasant memory of when they'd kill hogs on the coldest day they could.....
making homemade ice cream on the old crank ice cream maker and my Daddy and Uncle Carl taking turns cranking the handle.

She loved her family so much and enjoyed cooking for us probably more than just about anything. But, besides her talent as the greatest cook ever, the thing that I cherish probably most about her was how her face would light up when I visited her. That still brings such a warm feeling to my heart just thinking about it.....

and tears to my eyes.

Oh, yes, she was loved dearly by all of us!

 Mom standing beside Mamaw's house a few years ago.

I've shared this foto so many times in the past, but she was doing what she loved best.....

cooking for our family. And, that's a pan of her famous biscuits!  Also, as I've gotten older, I've developed a love of those "house dresses".....

wonder why?

Rhoda Onalee 

September 13, 1911 - May 7, 2011

Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of my sweet, precious Mamaw!