Dear Mamaw,

We are getting so very close to you having been gone for a year. It has been a long, hard year without you. This world has not been the same, and I wish I could hear your thoughts on about everything that has happened since you went home to God. This past summer when we went to the beach it was different; I did not have you to play games with or to be super sassy with. This summer was a summer that I wish that you could have heard all about from me. We could've had our monthly lunch with Nana and talked about it. But, I know that you were looking down on me in everything that I did.

Looking back at my childhood, there are things that I remember most. I remember you letting me do your hair or paint your nails. I loved when I could sit behind you on the couch and do hairstyles on you, especially the best one of all: the "Jimmy Neutron." Thanks for being such a great sport with me and all the other grandchildren (and great-grandchildren.) One of the best and earliest memories I can remember of me and you is when we were at Dollywood, and you told Steven that you would flush him down the toilet. To this day, I still laugh at that, even though I know you would never actually have done that to him. I love the fact that you had such a great relationship with all your kids, grandkids, and your great grandkids. Even though we miss you a lot, we know that you are looking down on all of us with love and happiness. Some days I can tell when you are by my side when I need that little bit of boost, or that little bit of confidence. I know that you are in Heaven, and that you are completely healed and no longer in pain. I rejoice in knowing that one day I will get to see you again.

Thank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams and to never give up. Thanks for never giving up or giving in, and rallying through the hardest parts of your life. I love thinking about all the memories over the 18 years that we had together. Most of the best ones involve us, the beach, and most likely playing a game of go fish (or as you called it one of the last times we played, "Jack".)

Thanks for being such a great woman, friend, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother to all of us.

Love,

Jenny