Renee🌻

Shamrocks, T-shirts and Pocket Knives

These are actual 4 leaf clovers and a blossom I found in our yard when I was a kid, except for the second one on the left. I’m not sure why in the world I added that to my photo album/scrapbook. My little brother pulled one of the leaves off 😂

My Grandpa loved to sit on the verandah, as my Grandma called it and whittle on a plain ‘ole stick. He made ax handles back in the day. That pocket knife was also handy for peeling apples and oranges for us kids. And a keen switch was kept ready for whoever insisted on picking green, unripened peaches or figs from the trees in their backyard. Funny thing is, I never remembered being whipped a single time by him, only by Moma.

Whenever we came to visit, we were met with his stern voice of welcome and boisterous laughter throughout every conversation that almost shook the rafters of their humble, tiny home.

Grandma was the one who smiled and quietly sat listening to everyone else talking during those visits, unless she was in the kitchen rustling up something to feed her guests.

My grandpa and grandma with my dad in their front yard. I loved her roses!

I can remember in the midst of those precious memories, Grandma telling me she liked my new school shoes. I was pleasantly surprised, as well as, proud she was able to find the words to hold a brief conversation with me. I smile with tears in my eyes now, visualizing the evident love I saw that day in her eyes, as she struggled with extreme shyness to connect with me.

I must have been almost thirteen at the time, because she passed in July, which was too early for me to be wearing school shoes. We always started school in September back then.

I like to imagine I was her favorite. Everyone was always telling me how much I favored her in looks and personality. I’m sure she noticed, although she never said a word.

Grandma was born and raised in Alabama. Her brother, Ben, obtained a job at a sawmill in another state. His parents decided to move there with him, and so that is how Grandma came to meet my Grandpa.

Grandpa lived in the neighborhood at the time where they moved. He was originally from a town so small in Louisiana, you would miss it if you blinked!

Grandma’s parents were both Irish. It was told my great grandpa had to pick his wife up just to kiss her, because he was so much taller than she!

My grandma had blonde hair when she was younger, in the only picture I ever saw of her back then. (The picture got misplaced later on) And she had brown eyes my dad inherited from her. My Aunt Rosa Lee was the only child of theirs to have auburn hair and brown eyes.

This is the same grandma who prayed for my dad at Pearl Harbor and to come home safely from the war. She was the most humble, praying woman I have ever known. I am dead serious when I say that. I never heard her talk about anyone. All family members say the same thing.

She was kind and loving, and she prayed and stood in faith, until she saw my grandpa get saved. Grandpa never would go to church with her when she first got saved, but started attending with her in his later years. She never gave up on him.

My grandma fed all the stray cats in the neighborhood. There was not one cat she could not tame. I guess that’s where I got that gift. On the day she passed, she was out feeding her cats.

I’m so proud of my Irish roots and so thankful for a wonderful praying grandma who left behind a rich heritage of prayer and shoes too big for me to fill.

I wore my green today, along with my last name, Greene! Did you?

44 comments

    • Thank you, Linda. For some reason, this holiday got me to thinking about my grandma.
      I bet you have beautiful green Irish eyes and freckles sound adorable! I have my mom’s gray blue eyes. She also had a little Irish on her side, not as much.
      Now that t-shirt sounds too stinking cute! 🥰☘️ I can imagine has gotten quite a few laughs! 😂💚

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • The last time I wore that shirt was to the grocery store, last year on St. Patrick’s Day. The stock boy liked it. “Are you really Irish?” he asked. I was like, no, I painted on these freckles just for today, lol.

        In reality, my DNA is predominantly British. Apparently the English have freckles, too.

        Liked by 1 person

    • I’m glad I had someone else laughing with me! We were the most stubborn grandchildren! But we loved green fruit for some reason. Oh those green plums! They were the best! At least those were down the road and not in their yard and a part of his No Zone area! 😂

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  8. Thank you for bringing me into your memories. I especially love the part “and she prayed and stood in faith”. It gives me hope for the people in my life I am praying for. Your memories make me feel as if I knew your Grandma.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Your lovely comment did my heart good-to know that I could somehow keep her memory alive and show her to the world. She deserved more recognition than she got in this life, but I know she will be rewarded in Heaven. Thank you so much! 💜

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  9. Your grandmother sounds like she was an angel, her strength and kindness are rare to find and it’s a loss for the world when God takes his angels back to him. Lovely family pictures by the way

    Liked by 2 people

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  17. What a beautiful story, Renee ❤ You know me, I love old family stories 🙂 They get sweeter as the years go by! I always bug my kids with them, though they seem intent enough to listen, lol. I know, one day, it will mean as much to them as it does to me now. I know you are the same. Blessings, my sister!

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