By ALISA MAYSEY
Jeff’s sweet, sweet 90-year-old grandmother won her fight against breast cancer last Saturday. Although she is now pain free and resting in the arms of Jesus, we will miss her terribly. By the time you read this article, Jeff will have preached her funeral and her body will be laid to rest.
Grandma Dorothy was an amazing lady who loved her family more than life itself, and she began loving me as well the first day I met her; she never treated me like an in-law but loved me like one of her own — because her Jeffrey loved me.
As we drove home from visitation in Brandenburg on Monday, Jeff recalled he had written a short piece about her 17 years ago in one of his college classes. I’d like to honor her by sharing those words:
“She wears glasses, has white hair that is always neatly kept in a hair net, and loves to fish. As long as I can remember I’ve called her Grandma. Each time I do she answers, ‘Yes, Jeffrey.’ Usually, no matter what the question, she has the right answer.
“I honestly believe that the relationship my grandmother and I share is one of the strongest between grandmothers and grandsons. Even through my teen years, I’ve always gone to see her because I wanted to, not because I felt I had to. While I’m there she cooks (and boy can she cook) and tells me about how things were when she was younger. She’s 73 now, so that was a while back.
“She’s more to me than a grandmother. She’s a friend. I can ask her opinion on personal and professional matters and she can be detached enough to really tell me what’s best for me, not what she thinks would be best for her grandson. Then, no matter what I decide, she gives me the love and support to accomplish my objective.
“My grandmother is also a companion. She and I both like to fish, though I often have to wonder who really likes fishing the most. Sometimes she’d rather stay and just watch the water lap at the lake’s edge than quit, even when the fish aren’t biting. When the fish are biting, though, she won’t leave until she’s sure she’s caught enough for the neighbors to enjoy for dinner that evening.
“Even now I can see her sitting in a folding lawn chair, the ones with the different colors painted on the strips of material that make up the seat and back, at the edge of a lake with 2 or 3 poles sitting on Y-shaped sticks just waiting for the nibbler that might try to make off with her bait. More often than not that fish ends up with a hook in his mouth and on the bank with my grandma holding it up and saying, ‘Lookey here at what I got!’
“Unlike most grandmas, my grandma Dorothy isn’t a homebody. If you don’t call her before you stop in, she may not be home. She’s always on the go, whether to church, to drive a friend to an appointment, or to take an afternoon to test the water of a nearby lake for catfish or bass.
“She’s always been kind, caring, loving, and strong. I feel fortunate to have Grandma Dorothy. She’s the best.”
Contact Alisa or Jeff Maysey at alisamaysey@yahoo.com
