Better place

When I first moved to Nashville, the thing that I missed most was my family. Not just my immediate family, but aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone. My parent's house was always a bustle of activity with family members stopping by just to chat. So, Kyle's family quickly became my family-away-from-home.

Kyle's grandmother is the oldest of six children and they still eat meals together four times a week. If I don't make it to at least two dinners per week, Granny Garton calls to tell me that she misses me and that if I don't show up for the next meal, she is going to "break my plate." Believe me, I don't miss too many meals. Everything that they cook is fresh out of the garden, fried in lard or smothered in gravy. There is nothing like a bunch of 80-year old ladies cooking your dinner for you!

This is wonderful to me because I lost my all of my grandparents when I was too young to appreciate them. My Grandaddy was the last to pass, when I was a freshman in high school. So when Granny Garton introduces me to people as her granddaughter, I almost tear up. The great-aunts and uncles are a special bonus too…it was like going from no living grandparents to having a dozen!

So, when Kyle's grandmother called EARLY this morning, I knew that I was going to get the news that I didn't want to hear. Great-Aunt Toosie had been in failing health for quite some time and, although we had expected it for a while, the news of her passing was almost too hard to take.

I feel as if I have lost one of my grandparents all over again. My eyes have burned all day and I can't seem to get this lump out of my throat.

I am heartbroken.

I will miss her dearly.