I can still remember the sounds those numbers made when you pressed them on the phone.
That was the first phone number I remember knowing, maybe before I even knew my own home phone number
I don't remember the last time I dialed that number. The last time I heard my grandmother's voice on the other end of the line. But it still makes my heart heavy when I think about the fact that I will never dial that number again and hear Meemaw.
Meemaw.
I don't know where that name even came from. But for me I can tell you exactly what it means.
Meemaw means legacy. It means love. It means military wife. At times in her life it meant make do! It means Lincoln. It means using your bad arm to get you out of a speeding ticket. It means Chinese food. Or Mexican food. Or Bonanza. Or Sonic. Or wherever else she felt like taking us to eat.
Meemaw means Christmas cookies and fruit cake. It means hot tea. It means slightly cantankerous at times and not what you would call politically correct. It means generous. And not just with money. But also with her time.
She worked at a little western union in the 1940s in Austin, TX when a strapping young Allen S. Nelson stopped by one day. 4 children, 5 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren.
On second thought I could probably never express to you exactly what Meemaw means. It transcends words.
But I can say this:
My life is better because she was in it. Not just in it but an integral part of my upbringing.
Meemaw passed away on 12/20/2014. When my grandfather died on 9/20/2009 it felt like a chapter was closing. But now that both are gone it feels like an entire volume has closed.
It is an end of an era.
It's interesting the people the Lord puts in your life isn't it? I'm grateful He put a Meemaw in mine. If He has placed one in yours and she's still alive, go dial her phone number and tell her you love her.
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