Becoming Mammy
A little bit of a timeline, some history. Gary and I have three grown children. Daniel, our oldest graduated high school and joined the Navy in 2013. He had an extremely high ASVAB score and a plethora of options and he chose submarines. After much schooling he was assigned to a submarine in Washington State.
In 2015 our daughter, Sara, graduated home school high school and Daniel got married to his youth group crush from South Carolina.
In 2017 Zachary, our youngest, graduated high school and although he finished highest in his Carpentry class, he chose to join the Army…Infantry. Sara married the boy of her dreams, also a crush from a different youth group, and a Ranger in the Army.
Once Sara and Ben were wed, they immediately left for Columbus, Georgia where he was stationed. Zachary followed a few months behind them, also destined for Columbus, Georgia.
In 2018 Daniel signed another contract with the Navy and his shore duty assignment was Kings Bay Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia.
Gary and I spent a good part of this year wondering why we were stuck in Pennsylvania when they were all in the South, but God kept saying, “Be Still”. I literally had a bracelet made with the words “Be Still” because of the frequency I needed to be reminded.
We vacationed in Hilton Head in 2018 and then headed to St. Mary’s to see Daniel and Madison’s new home. And when I returned, I felt something had shifted. I started going through the basement purging things.
A month later Sara said, “I sent a package, when you get it, call us before you open it.” It had just been our birthdays and our wedding anniversary so I really didn’t give it any thought at all.
The package arrived on a Saturday. Gary was pressure washing the front porch and I was working in the side flower bed. We called from the kitchen on a video chat and inside was an 8 x 10 canvas. Sara had painted the following message, “The best parents get promoted to grandparents.”
Grandparents!!! We shouted, we cried and after the call Gary looked at me and said, “Are we done being still?”
The whirlwind began. We brought in a realtor to give us a punch list and we got to work. We missed our target of November and didn’t get the house on the market until December 1st. The realtor cautioned us not to get our hopes up….It’s December in Pennsylvania after all.
But sold it did, we had three offers the first week. In mid December while in Georgia to have Christmas with all of the grown kids, we put in an offer on a home in Phenix City. By February we lived there and in May came our first grandchild.
You can say anything you like, I will tell this story and believe it until I die…. We got the call after Ben and Sara spent time alone with the newborn (the only one she didn’t birth at home) that we could come meet him. I held that baby boy and looked in his eyes and talked to him (Did I mention that I talked to her belly all the time??) I swear to you, that baby smiled.
There are now eight grandchildren. One in Georgia, four in Alabama and three in Pennsylvania. When people ask me why we are full time RVers, I simply answer, we have eight grandchildren in three states. It’s just that simple.
We have been in South Georgia with Sterling 9 weeks. We leave soon. That is not going to be an easy good bye. We see him often and have the best time whether we are at the beach, on a field trip or just playing “make believe” with his stuffies.
While I thought it was all on us to chase them, our daughter flipped the script. Last week Sara traveled five hours with four children to come and visit us for a few days. I asked her, “Are you coming because I miss them or because they miss me?” She said, “I’m just bored.”
It was wonderful seeing the Alabama grands and cousin time is always good. Sterling got to play with his cousins at the beach one day and at the park another day. And all of the red hair! What a hoot!!!
Listen, I love Jesus first, Sterling and I have had that conversation a few times over the last few weeks. He doesn’t get it yet, but someday he will. I told him that loving Jesus first makes my heart bigger so I can love all of them too! And I love Gary SECOND. Yes, honey, you are second! And I do love my kids – the ones I birthed and the ones they married. But grandbabies are just something all together different.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude. That God allowed me to be a mom and raise three great kids, that they are blessed with three great spouses, and that I get to love these eight sweet, delightful children who call me Mammy.
Beach Day at Jekyll Island
Beach Day at Jekyll Island
Working hard at the beach. Jekyll Island.
I leave you with a song….click on the link below. Enjoy. ♥