I Miss You Granny!
This has been saved on here as a draft since October 5th! I don't know why it's taken me so long to post it! Anyway, this is about my Granny who I miss so much! I am so grateful for all the time I got to spend with her. She lived with me and John for 6 months, and we had the BEST time with her! I still get tickled thinking about her watching Friday the 13th and Monday night wrestling with John. And she would peep around the corner of the hall to look and see if we had company before she'd come and sit down with us to watch tv. She was really something special, and I guess I will always miss her.
This is Granny's story . . . well some of it anyway. I wrote this to be read at her funeral. It is, of course, just a brief glimpse at who she was.
At a young age, she was courted by Robert Sinquefield, and they married when she was just 15 years old. It was quite a surprise to her parents, as she did not tell them for 2 weeks. She thought it was completely normal to wait and share the news once Robert had set-up house for them. Robert promptly picked her up once their home was ready, and they began their 25 years of marriage together. Ethelene said that they were happily in love, and all the ladies at church snickered at how he always opened doors for her and kept his arm around her at church.
For all their happiness, they were still unable to have the children they’d always dreamed of having. Some years later, they learned of a couple who was looking for a nice Christian family to adopt their children. Robert and Ethelene were thrilled to learn that they had an eighteen-month old and were soon bringing home their son, Garry Sinquefield. The two remaining children went to stay at the home of the preacher of Tunica Church of Christ, but it wasn’t long until Robert and Ethelene went back to adopt the remaining two children. Theresa was 5 years old, and Mark was 3. Robert and Ethelene finally felt their family was complete. Ethelene was a giving mother with a selfless and caring nature who welcomed these 3 children into her home as if they were her own. The children enjoyed getting to see the cows on the farm and watch their father plow the fields with his mules. They were also introduced to family vacations and visited Florida, Dog Patch, USA in Arkansas, and even got to attend summer camp in Searcy, Arkansas. Although everyone enjoyed the vacations, there were mixed emotions about camp. While Theresa loved every minute of camp, Mark was indifferent, but Garry hated it so badly that he was abnormally happy when he got to go home early due to breaking his arm. They also remember waking up to the sound of their parents laughing each morning as Ethelene prepared breakfast and saw Robert off to work.
However, after 25 years of marriage, in 1964, Robert was killed in a car accident. Brother Ed Dandrige and Winifred Oglesby came to deliver the devastating news. Ethelene was lost and could hardly face the thought of staying alone. For a little over a year, each night Ethelene would pack herself and the 3 children a bag and travel to stay with Robert’s sister in Sarah, Ms.
Sometime later, she was introduced to Upton Taylor through one of Robert’s cousins, and they were happily married. Soon after they were surprised to find that Ethelene was expecting a child. After all, in those days it was assumed that the woman was barren if a couple was unable to produce a child. So, at 42 Ethelene went to the hospital to deliver a child that they planned to name Roxanne if she were a girl. Luckily, she was brought home a week later and introduced to her siblings as Lisa Dahl Taylor. Lisa was spoiled rotten and got lots of attention from her older siblings and proud parents. Even to the last of her days, Ethelene still enjoyed spoiling her baby, Lisa.
In Thyatira, Ethelene was well-known for The Hilltop Beauty Shop which she opened beside her home on the hill. She had gotten her beautician license from Northwest Junior College. Many a lady spent the morning in her shop having their hair and nails done and sharing the local gossip. Many of her grandchildren also spent their mornings playing in the shop which would always be accompanied by a “whipping” for meddling in the nail polish or spinning in the chair.
In 1989 Upton suffered a stroke, and later passed away due to complications from this stroke in 1993. Alone again, Ethelene began to pack her bag and search for places to spend the evening, taking her blankets and sweaters to wrap up, on even the warm summer days. Many friends opened their homes and hearts to welcome her: Mary Lois Sanders, Wilma King, Ethelene Strange. But none was a better matched companion than Ilene Oglesby who had an extra room with its very own electric blanket. They were two lonely peas in a pod who both found comfort in each other’s company. From watching late night movies to trips to Taco Bell, they were the best of friends. In the spring of 2000 before Ilene passed away, their grandchildren (Karen & Amanda) came to surprise them with a spend-the-night slumber party. These two ladies were talking and carrying on so loudly that it took 15 minutes of knocking before the grandchildren were let in. But once inside, sandwiches, popcorn and drinks were passed around as they watched movies and giggled until late in the night.
Ethelene also found an open door policy at Eddie & Theresa’s home where she stayed the majority of her nights. Down the hill to their Thyatira home she would come at 5:00 in the evening, and then back up the hill the next morning as soon as they returned to work. She also enjoyed visits at her daughter Lisa’s home in Grenada, but she would confess that she was needed there because the boys didn’t like to sleep alone. It’s no doubt from whom they must have inherited that trait!!
Soon, her day trips to her house up the hill got shorter and shorter. She reluctantly packed a bag and gave up her day trips all together. Ethelene spent the last two years of her life living with Eddie and Theresa Oglesby in their home outside of Senatobia. She traded the comfort of home, for the comfort of having family around. She enjoyed this “comfort” so much that she was known to call around and look for Eddie and Theresa if she thought they should have been home from work earlier. The request would always be the same, “Ever-which-a-one of you is staying with me tonight needs to come on!” She was always grateful of them taking her in and careful to behave in such a way that she couldn’t possibly be a burden. As her disease progressed, she yearned for her childhood home and her parents and siblings that preceded her in death. But, she was soothed by the visits of her family, the constant care and companionship of Eddie and Theresa, and the calls of concerned friends.
One thing could be said about Ethelene, she was loved by many and had enough friends and family welcoming her, that she never had to spend a single dreaded, fearful night alone on the hill. We know that she has now gone on to a place where she will never spend a night alone and where electric blankets won’t be needed for warmth. We will miss her infamous whistle of impending doom, which was a sure sign that the she had just read the worst of the news from the paper; we will miss her Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas breakfasts; we will miss her presence on the hill and haven from tornadoes in the basement; we will miss her cautions to wear a jacket even in the summer evenings; we will miss being needed by this loving, caring, woman known to us as “Mama,” “Mother,” “Granny,” “sister” or “friend”; But we will NOT miss her recurrent, often daily, request to go home, to a home filled with family members that have long since passed on, a home that no longer exists for her here – for we find peace in knowing that her loneliness is over, and she has finally gone home.
A year ago yesterday, my Granny passed away. I can't believe it has been that long. I miss her and really wish should could have been here to see Jax.
This is Granny's story . . . well some of it anyway. I wrote this to be read at her funeral. It is, of course, just a brief glimpse at who she was.
At a young age, she was courted by Robert Sinquefield, and they married when she was just 15 years old. It was quite a surprise to her parents, as she did not tell them for 2 weeks. She thought it was completely normal to wait and share the news once Robert had set-up house for them. Robert promptly picked her up once their home was ready, and they began their 25 years of marriage together. Ethelene said that they were happily in love, and all the ladies at church snickered at how he always opened doors for her and kept his arm around her at church.
For all their happiness, they were still unable to have the children they’d always dreamed of having. Some years later, they learned of a couple who was looking for a nice Christian family to adopt their children. Robert and Ethelene were thrilled to learn that they had an eighteen-month old and were soon bringing home their son, Garry Sinquefield. The two remaining children went to stay at the home of the preacher of Tunica Church of Christ, but it wasn’t long until Robert and Ethelene went back to adopt the remaining two children. Theresa was 5 years old, and Mark was 3. Robert and Ethelene finally felt their family was complete. Ethelene was a giving mother with a selfless and caring nature who welcomed these 3 children into her home as if they were her own. The children enjoyed getting to see the cows on the farm and watch their father plow the fields with his mules. They were also introduced to family vacations and visited Florida, Dog Patch, USA in Arkansas, and even got to attend summer camp in Searcy, Arkansas. Although everyone enjoyed the vacations, there were mixed emotions about camp. While Theresa loved every minute of camp, Mark was indifferent, but Garry hated it so badly that he was abnormally happy when he got to go home early due to breaking his arm. They also remember waking up to the sound of their parents laughing each morning as Ethelene prepared breakfast and saw Robert off to work.
However, after 25 years of marriage, in 1964, Robert was killed in a car accident. Brother Ed Dandrige and Winifred Oglesby came to deliver the devastating news. Ethelene was lost and could hardly face the thought of staying alone. For a little over a year, each night Ethelene would pack herself and the 3 children a bag and travel to stay with Robert’s sister in Sarah, Ms.
Sometime later, she was introduced to Upton Taylor through one of Robert’s cousins, and they were happily married. Soon after they were surprised to find that Ethelene was expecting a child. After all, in those days it was assumed that the woman was barren if a couple was unable to produce a child. So, at 42 Ethelene went to the hospital to deliver a child that they planned to name Roxanne if she were a girl. Luckily, she was brought home a week later and introduced to her siblings as Lisa Dahl Taylor. Lisa was spoiled rotten and got lots of attention from her older siblings and proud parents. Even to the last of her days, Ethelene still enjoyed spoiling her baby, Lisa.
In Thyatira, Ethelene was well-known for The Hilltop Beauty Shop which she opened beside her home on the hill. She had gotten her beautician license from Northwest Junior College. Many a lady spent the morning in her shop having their hair and nails done and sharing the local gossip. Many of her grandchildren also spent their mornings playing in the shop which would always be accompanied by a “whipping” for meddling in the nail polish or spinning in the chair.
In 1989 Upton suffered a stroke, and later passed away due to complications from this stroke in 1993. Alone again, Ethelene began to pack her bag and search for places to spend the evening, taking her blankets and sweaters to wrap up, on even the warm summer days. Many friends opened their homes and hearts to welcome her: Mary Lois Sanders, Wilma King, Ethelene Strange. But none was a better matched companion than Ilene Oglesby who had an extra room with its very own electric blanket. They were two lonely peas in a pod who both found comfort in each other’s company. From watching late night movies to trips to Taco Bell, they were the best of friends. In the spring of 2000 before Ilene passed away, their grandchildren (Karen & Amanda) came to surprise them with a spend-the-night slumber party. These two ladies were talking and carrying on so loudly that it took 15 minutes of knocking before the grandchildren were let in. But once inside, sandwiches, popcorn and drinks were passed around as they watched movies and giggled until late in the night.
Ethelene also found an open door policy at Eddie & Theresa’s home where she stayed the majority of her nights. Down the hill to their Thyatira home she would come at 5:00 in the evening, and then back up the hill the next morning as soon as they returned to work. She also enjoyed visits at her daughter Lisa’s home in Grenada, but she would confess that she was needed there because the boys didn’t like to sleep alone. It’s no doubt from whom they must have inherited that trait!!
Soon, her day trips to her house up the hill got shorter and shorter. She reluctantly packed a bag and gave up her day trips all together. Ethelene spent the last two years of her life living with Eddie and Theresa Oglesby in their home outside of Senatobia. She traded the comfort of home, for the comfort of having family around. She enjoyed this “comfort” so much that she was known to call around and look for Eddie and Theresa if she thought they should have been home from work earlier. The request would always be the same, “Ever-which-a-one of you is staying with me tonight needs to come on!” She was always grateful of them taking her in and careful to behave in such a way that she couldn’t possibly be a burden. As her disease progressed, she yearned for her childhood home and her parents and siblings that preceded her in death. But, she was soothed by the visits of her family, the constant care and companionship of Eddie and Theresa, and the calls of concerned friends.
One thing could be said about Ethelene, she was loved by many and had enough friends and family welcoming her, that she never had to spend a single dreaded, fearful night alone on the hill. We know that she has now gone on to a place where she will never spend a night alone and where electric blankets won’t be needed for warmth. We will miss her infamous whistle of impending doom, which was a sure sign that the she had just read the worst of the news from the paper; we will miss her Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas breakfasts; we will miss her presence on the hill and haven from tornadoes in the basement; we will miss her cautions to wear a jacket even in the summer evenings; we will miss being needed by this loving, caring, woman known to us as “Mama,” “Mother,” “Granny,” “sister” or “friend”; But we will NOT miss her recurrent, often daily, request to go home, to a home filled with family members that have long since passed on, a home that no longer exists for her here – for we find peace in knowing that her loneliness is over, and she has finally gone home.
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