Dear Annie-Mae Freeman,

Ever since you passed away, there hasn't been at least some day in the week where I don't think about you or something happens to me that I wish I could tell you about. But you see, out of all of the moments we shared, there's something I'm sure I didn't say enough: thank you. Yep. Thank you. It's a phrase that I feel like I never used enough while you were still here with us, so here I am today telling you in the best way I know how. So, here I go.

Thank you for all of the fun times we had in the pink house. You know? The TV watching, the arts and crafts, baking, giggling and adventures that you provided. Thank you for your love. The love you radiated to everyone around you was unmatchable. Even when you were upset, we know that there was love still in your reasoning. Thank you for raising so many gosh darn children, grandchildren and great-grand children.

I mean seriously, with almost every generation, you had a hand in raising them, no matter how little of a touch or how much—they all knew you, loved you and appreciated every single moment you had with them, even if it was just a few moments at a family get-together. Thank you for your humor; gosh, your humor. I’d like to think that you were a little bit messy like me and always loved a good show. Not only were you funny, but you loved to laugh. Gosh, your laugh is something that I miss and something that was absolutely infectious, because whenever you started laughing, our family would start laughing at your laughing… which only kept you laughing more.

Thank you for letting us witness your obsession with Coca-Cola, Frosties, coffee and fruitcake…can’t forget the fruitcake (even though you never ate it when we bought it for you). Thank you for your fearlessness, because it is something that I can only dream about having. You would go to bat for your children if they were wronged and wouldn’t back down…despite you being like 5’4" and tiny. That fearlessness is the thing that I believe got you through so many tough times in your life and it gave you the strength to help those who were going through them too. Thank you for showing me what a true woman of God looks like. Your faith in God was like no other. You trusted him from your first breath to you last. I have never met someone who put their everything into God and not fear one thing, because you knew that He’d take care of you, whatever happened, and to be honest? That’s what I feel like you were thinking in your very last breaths on this Earth.

You see, there were so many times when you got sick where we thought that it might’ve been time to let go, but you bounced back every single time. The one time we totally weren’t expecting you to go; you left. For a while I just wished that I had little more time with you. One last conversation, one last hug and one last laugh—but then I took a step back and looked at the whole picture. Who am I to be sad that you’re gone instead of being happy that we had you in the first place? God blessed our family with you. You, who was the mold in our family for so long; the connector, of sorts. You made your mark on us and left us your values, beliefs and mentality and we are forever grateful because of that.

This doesn’t mean that I won’t miss you and won’t continue to miss you for the rest of my life. It just means that I know that you’ve finally reached your true endgame and that you accomplished everything that was important in this temporary life. In your long life, you’ve impacted so many people, ranging from those who’ve only met you once to those who’ve known you their whole life. People knew you as someone who would give the clothes off her back, if it meant it would help someone else but would be ready to fight you if you messed with her family. They knew someone who was faithful to God and that faith never faltered once. They knew you. That’s all a lot of us can ever ask for, to be honest. Just to be known by people and know that they’re aware of our light and that’s what you were, Grandma. A light. When you died, that light didn’t burn out with you, but I strongly believe that it’s shining just as brightly with your loved one up there in that blue sky.

My Mom said that you would tell her that all you want to hear from God is to say to you “Well done, Annie Mae Freeman. Well done,” in reference to Matthew 25:21. This whole note was comprised of things I wish I said to you, but now I’m just going to summarize it into a sentence I know you’d be just fine with.

Thank you for everything, Grandma Annie Mae—and well done.