My Granny's house

I miss my Granny Cates so much.  I was blessed with an amazing woman as my grandmother.  I did not get to meet her until I was 8 and then she passed away when I was only 26.  She was 5 days shy of 97 years old.  


I loved going to her house.  I started going to her house for weeks in the summer after my mom took me to meet her when I was 8.
I'll provide a little back-story- Granny is my biological father's mother.  He and my mom divorced when I was an infant and he was never really part of my life.  I did meet him when I was 8 and then he passed away right before I turned 10.  My mom had remarried and we had lived in another state for a lot of my early years.  I guess my mom determined that I was old enough to meet my family and begin a relationship with them.


My Cates side of my family are the family that I am closest to now, besides Tim's family and my immediate family.  They welcomed me into the family as if I had never not been there.


I loved my Granny's house.  It was well over 100 years old.  It was built when nails were square.  She showed me one of the square nails before, so neat! Everything about it was old fashioned, and it was almost like stepping back in time when I went to visit her.


I remember the swing on the porch.  Her and I would sit there and swing in the evenings.  Sometimes we would see things like deer in the pasture or other little woodland creatures.


Her and I would also go on walks down her road on warm summer evenings.


There were many family photos to go through and look at.  Her and I sat down and made a family tree together one time.  I still have that information and I've made trees for other sides of my family as well.


My Granny never learned to drive a car, so my aunt would come pick her up to run errands and get groceries.
While she may not have known how to drive, she always tended her own garden and mowed her own grass, even into her 80's!


She loved cats and always had food bowls filled up on the front porch from them.  I carry the same love for cats that she did, maybe more so.


I remember that she loved Coca Cola and she always had Virginia Brand Ham in the fridge, homemade red plum jelly in the pantry and some sort of sweet on the kitchen table.  I remember waking up to eggs, bacon and biscuits almost every morning.


Granny's house was the place that family stopped by to visit.  It seemed that there was always someone stopping by.  I loved those visits. While I stayed there in the summer, I got to see so many other members of my family. Some of my cousins were practically raised there and I know that they have many more memories of her and her house.


She was the glue that held our family together.  Now, the majority of us don't get together very often.  I still keep in touch with a lot of family technology wise, but there is just something about all of us being together that I dearly miss.


I've never heard anyone say anything bad about my Granny.  She welcomed anyone in her house and was always offering something to drink or something to eat.  No one left her house feeling unwelcome.


I have so many memories attached to that house. So many good, good memories.  I miss so much, but I'm so thankful for those memories.