Amy's Blog Entry

This past weekend was such a great weekend and was a great boost to my spirits. My grandmother passed away and at the last moment I decided to accompany my mom and 2 brothers to Georgia for the funeral services. There were 2 big takeaway thoughts or impressions I had about this weekend:

1- A greater sense of self and my heritage 2- The importance of family and a mother

My grandmother was from Georgia, as is my mother. I was the only child of 6 born there and we spent a lot of summers and vacations to the small country town of Moultrie, Georgia. It’s a place I have always loved! Moultrie is very small and quaint; my grandmother lived about 8 miles out of town and had a nice home that sat on 5 acres.About 2 of those acres were a huge clearing in which her home sat. To one side was an enormous raspberry patch and the rest was surrounded by woods. If you walked about 1/4 mile into the woods you’d find yourself in a cotton field, after crossing the field some more woods, and finally a swamp/pond. We always thought there were gators in it, but we really knew better; we just liked scaring each other. It was a magical, wonderful place for a child. When we weren’t out exploring, my sister and I were dressing up in grandma’s old clothes and jewelry and putting on her powder and lipstick. I also took a fancy to her large record player. I would play record after record; Georgia on my mind was my very favorite. I haven’t been to Moultrie for several years and absolutely loved going back. I LOVE the country feeling and not having suburbs; it felt so good and peaceful. I loved rediscovering this part of who I am. It’s all a part of who I am and my heritage. I need to recognize that more and even develop it into my life more so. What was even better than just being back in Georgia was seeing family. Out of 35 grandchildren, 21 were able to make it, 22 if you count my sister in law who came to represent my brother. Many of these cousins I have not seen since I was a small child. We spent hours in our hotel lobby telling all kinds of stories and loving just being together. In addition to cousins, all of my grandmother’s living children were present as were her brother and all her brother and sisters-in-law. I loved seeing all of these great aunt’s and uncles. These aunts are truly the definition of a Southern Belle and are simply beautiful! I always loved these aunts because I have always been told I favor the Smith look and have some of the facial features of these aunts, but they are in a whole other realm! Many of these great aunts and uncles even had their older children present, some I have never met and some only once or twice in my lifetime. They were all soooo friendly and genuinely interested in everyone and their affairs. These experiences with my family reminded me of the importance of family and my desire to teach that to Ivy. I want her to build strong relationships with her cousins and aunts and uncles. I want her to have a desire to learn of her ancestors and of their legacy and her own heritage, just as the scripture in Malachi says that the hearts of the father will be turned toward the child and the heart of the child will be turned towards the father. The funeral service itself was quite beautiful and to the point. It felt good being there with so many family members, I can’t think of a better way to honor my sweet grandmother; she loved her family more than anything and was never short of compliments for each one of us. As my uncle and aunts spoke during the service a recurring theme was presented about how their mother had taught them so many things. How to cook, how to sew, stressed the importance of education, but most importantly taught her children about Christ, about Faith, and had helped tremendously in each of their testimonies. This mother really helped define her children’s lives and became a big part of who they are. I sometimes forget that about motherhood. I forget it about my mom; I forget it as I am trying to raise my own little family. Motherhood truly is an enormous role and the importance of it can not be underestimated. I am grateful for a wonderful grandmother who knew that and made mothering a priority in her life. I am grateful for a mother who does the same and goes above and beyond. I just need to remember that in all that I do within my home and try to be as wonderful as these great women in my life.

--written by Amy Baird Jackson