BawBaw

There really is no title other than that for this post, and trust me, I tried to think of one.

The pictures in this post are from 2006 and taken with a horrible, very old camera so forgive the awful quality.

BawBaw is my great grandmother. She is 87 years old and she is a bull. Seriously, she is one of the toughest women I have ever met in my life.  She's also kind of vulgar and she's very upfront with what she says. Oh, and she's slightly crazy and dislikes Republicans. She's a wonderful woman.

Why am I writing about her? Well, she's nearing the end of her life. She's not conscious 90-95% of the time and everyone tells me to be ready for her death. She doesn't want a funeral and she's wanted this for a long time. See, she's old and she's tired and she's been saying this since I was 7.

BawBaw and I were always very close. When I was little (2-3yrs old) she would drive all the way from Gulfport, MS to Memphis, TN to visit me. I remember playing "kick the pinecone" with her. I'm also the one that gave her her name. It stuck and she made all the great grandkids call her that. She used to be my mail pen pal and my email pen pal. We also used to talk on the phone for hours. 

Once, she sent a paper cut out of herself to Memphis with instructions to take pics of her in different places, like she had come her herself. Yes, that did happen. 

She's always supported me in everything in life, except getting married. I am so grateful/happy that she told me recently that as long as it made me happy, she was happy. (basically, she wanted me to finish school first)

So, I hate when people die and everyone says they were a saint. This woman was not a saint. She made mistakes in her life and she was friggin difficult as hell to get along with sometimes. She had her opinions and she stuck to them no matter what.

I've never really thought she would die. To me, she'd always be there. About 3 years ago she told me that she didn't think I'd ever make it down to Gulfport to visit her again in her life and apparently, she was right.

Now, I'm just waiting for the call to tell me it's over. It's hard to be sad because she's been sick for so long and not herself at all and I know she never wanted to have her health decline that much. She hasn't been my BawBaw for a long time.

But, she's also the reason I'm so anal about school (it runs in the family) and she's probably the reason for my more outlandish thoughts and ideas. To be fair, she's also probably the reason I'm tolerant of everyone but idiots.

But, I love her. And I didn't tell her that enough (she's not a very sentimental woman, you see.) She's a grandma, and she's a damn good one. I'll drink a glass of wine for you, BawBaw. Here's to you and all the crazy things you've ever said. I love you.

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