Granny's Apples

It's been an emotional week for the Davis family.

Troy's Granny passed away this weekend.

His mom's, mother.

She was a good lady.  A good mother, a good grandmother.

The kind of grandmother that knits a baby blanket for Troy and I to have....   for a baby that isn't even thought of yet.

And the kind that loved all of her grandchildren equally...   and was proud of all of them, no matter their story.

(Troy is the one on Granny's lap- how sweet is he?)

Granny, Eric (on lap) and Troy..

In 2007, a few days before our wedding, Granny was hospitalized.  We were sad to know she would miss our big day.  I remember the night before our wedding, Troy told me he was going to the hospital to visit Granny the next day.  If I'm being honest.... I thought he had lost it.  I couldn't imagine how in the world he would squeeze in a hospital visit on the day of our wedding.  But he said he wanted to see his Granny on our wedding day.  And so he went.  I will always be grateful that he did.


I was sad that Granny passed....  but I didn't expect to be as emotional as her children and grandchildren.

And then I saw my precious Mother-in-Law.  And it was more than my heart could handle.  I grieved for her and with her so badly.  I did not want her to have to say goodbye to her Mother.... and watching her do so was overwhelming for me.

However....  it was in these moments of overwhelming sadness... that I was reminded that this family doesn't feel like a family that I just "married into."  When the funeral came to a close.... I stepped back and watched my husband and his two brothers circle around his mother to say goodbye to Granny.....and though it was a very sad goodbye...  it was honestly one of the most touching images that I've ever seen.  I think that image will be stuck in my mind forever.  It was so precious to me, that I wanted so bad to snap a photo.  I wish my Mother-in-law could have seen what I did.  Her in the middle.....  standing in front of her own Mother.... and her three strong boys wrapped around her.  I was reminded at that moment that though I had not known Granny all my life,  like they had.... it didn't matter...  because these boys and and their mother were mine.  They didn't feel like in laws....they didn't feel like a family I had just "married into"....  I grieved for them like I would have my own family.  And though I was heart broken for them...   it reminded me of just how precious this family is to me.   This lady that people refer to as my Mother in Law.....  and these sensitive and strong men that we call my brother in laws...are more to me than any term or title could ever begin to describe.  They are my family.  And when they grieve....  I grieve just the same.  As if they are my own.

I can imagine how proud Granny would have been of these boys.  Not only in the way they honored and remembered her that day....   but in the way they loved their Mother.


Brian flew over 2,000 miles at a moment's notice to be at his Mother's side....

Troy was on a rotation in which they are not allowed to have time off..... and yet he made sure the department knew that he needed to be with his Mom....  and so he was.

Eric was on day number ONE of his brand new job.  And yet he was right there too.

All of them.

I know they did it to honor Granny's memory.....  and I know how much they loved their grandmother.  But it was their own Mom... and the love they knew she needed....  that they would have moved mountains for in order to be there.

These few days weren't totally full of sorrow....in between saying goodbye to Granny, we had a good time just being together.

Long days of sadness were topped off with late night dinners of laughter....

Brothers catching up on life......

And seeing family from out of town that we don't see enough.....

Death is so hard....  and I can't even being to imagine what it would be like to bury my Mother....  but I think it's time together like this that remind us of how much we need our family and the ones we love the most......

And though I hate that it had to happen due to a death in the family.....

....any day that I look over and see my brother-in-law (who we miss so much) napping on my sofa....  is just a sweet day to me.

Brian and I were sitting at the funeral home on Monday.... near his Granny... and he said "what I wouldn't give for some of Granny's apples right now."  I asked him to describe them to me and he said "hers are just the best, I will miss them."

The next day.....  and our last family dinner together before he flew home.... he found this on the menu.  We ordered one and passed it around the table.

Whether for her apples....  her faith....  her love....  or a knitted baby blanket for a great grand baby she'll never know...   Granny will always be remembered.

And for me personally......  I will always remember the love that was shared around her the day we said goodbye to her.  The image of my Mother-in-law.... surrounded by her sons and family as they said their final farewells.....

....and the moment she turned and reached for my hand to come and join them.

It's the love that Granny's memory created..... that will stay with me forever.