Although I am moving back home close to my parents and the rest of my family, there are 2 very important people that were a huge part of my life that I will miss very much, they are my grandparents, Louise & John "Torchy" Mullins. I lost my grandmother Louise in 1998 and my grandfather Torchy in 2006. I wish that they were still just down the road from me, but they have gone "home" to live in eternity together with our Lord. I have attached 2 writings below that describe the way I felt when I lost them. I know that one day I will see them again and that is what makes their being gone bearable.
“Camel Cigarettes and Paint-Splattered Clothes”
Memories of Papaw “Torchy”
Some of the things that I can remember most about Pap are…
Stories of how he went to school all day once and having to walk to school “up hill both ways…”
Having us smell the tobacco in his camel cigarettes “that there is good tobacco” he would say
Paint on everything he owned. That is how we could tell what clothes were his.
His favorite color was brown and most of the time that is what color he painted the house. Except for a couple of times it was purple and green.
Telling us “I guess I’ll go to bed now, you good people might want to go home”
Times when he would get a wild hair and paint the house…AGAIN
Going to the river to set lines and bringing home 10-pound catfish
Going to the river and coming back talking about an alligator running him up a tree!
Going to Lebanon to rabbit hunt, Misty and Emmett in tow
Hunting for night crawlers at night by flashlight in Uncle John’s yard
Going to the creek to get crawdeads. He would have to tear the pinchers off before I would hold them...
Always having an immaculate garden, which he would have to show you every time you visited
He loved SWEETS, SWEETS and more SWEETS and giving us “beard”
Breakfast on the table every morning whether you were hungry or not
I could go on and on about the memories I have of Pap. I loved him so much. I know he loved me too, not that he would say it very often, but I just knew. He showed it in the little things he did and in the glow in his eyes. But above all things about Pap that I do remember is the love he had for my Granny. He would go to the ends of the earth for her. I remember when she would just mention something she would like to have and Pap would run to get it for her. He never was the same after she passed. He could not wait to get back to her. Well the day came on January 1, 2006 when he finally went home to be with her. I can only imagine what that homecoming was like. I pictured it as Granny saying, “get in here Old Man Mullins, I have been waiting for you”. Now they are walking hand-in-hand and holding there baby boy Jeffrey. Not to mention having Mammy and Mamaw Shuffitt there too.
I know Pap is in a better place now and he is without pain. Loved ones he has missed for years surround him now. It will be hard for us left behind but we can find comfort in knowing that dying is what he wanted so that he could live forever in the glory of our Father with the love of his life.
I will keep all the memories I have of Pap in my heart forever and I will look back on them often. But the first thing I will think of when thinking about Pap will be…
…Camel cigarettes and paint-splattered clothes.
I love you Pap. You will be truly missed.
In Memory of John L. “Torchy” Mullins
September 26, 1928 – January 1, 2006
Sherri Kaye
January 6, 2006
"Granny"
I remember sitting on the front porch with her and talking about everything. She would always listen and give her good sound advice. It is quiet moments like this that I miss the most. We had a special relationship. We would do things like go shopping all day, sit on the front porch enjoying the scenery, and lounge on the couch watching soaps and game shows. She was my Granny and I loved her so much. She made me feel like I was so important and she always made me her priority. I knew if ever I needed someone to talk to, day or night, she was there. She always made me feel so safe. From the time I was a little child I remember crying when I had to leave her. We just had that special connection. I remember my aunt telling me that the day they brought me home from the hospital after I was born, Granny took me into her bedroom, rocked me, and cried. I think that is when our hearts bonded. When she died I felt like part of me died with her. There are so many times when I long to go back, back to the days when Granny & me were always together. I miss that since of security and love that she always gave me. I found myself many times getting ready to pick up the phone and call her when something had gone wrong in my life only to remember that she had passed on and wouldn’t be there to answer. There were many times when I would drive to her house to see her just by habit only to be disappointed again. I found this void in my life that I didn’t know how to fill. To this day I still break down when I hear certain songs, watch certain movies, or talk about her. But I feel that God has a way of putting those things before you so that you never forget those people so important in your life. It has been a long struggle, but I have finally grasped reality enough to know that she will never be gone, that her spirit lives on in me and she will always be there with me. She is only a dream or a prayer away. I feel her presence around me often and I think of her every day. She helped make me what I am today and I will forever be thankful for it. She changed many lives during her short time here on earth and I am sure that she is making Heaven a little brighter now.
She is truly missed.
I love you Granny!
In Memory of Margaret Louise Mullins
February 4, 1933 – February 2, 1998
Sherri Kaye
March 26, 2004
1 comment:
And I remember....
"Hey Shelly Bean!"
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