G.G.

A few weeks ago, G.G. joyfully went to heaven.

There aren't many words to describe G.G., which is one reason it has taken me so long to get this post up.

G.G. lived every moment of every day by the truth she held close to her heart. She poured over scripture and, as her grandson pointed out at her funeral, could recite most of the Bible. The day she died, when she was sitting in the hospital, they told her Grandaddy was headed back to the hospital from their house. She promptly asked, "Where is my lipstick?" G.G. dwelled on truth; She didn't worry about what she didn't know to be true. She didn't know when she was going to die, but she knew her husband was coming in the room soon and she knew she loved looking pretty for her husband.

Every time I've gone through something difficult in my life, and a hundred times in between, I've received a letter from G.G. Her letters were full of encouragement, insight, wisdom... and they always included a Bible verse. She sent them to everyone she loved. As I've thought about where I want our desk in our house, my main goal has been to make all of my stationary and stamps readily available so I can correspond like G.G. There is nothing in the world that makes me feel more thought about than a hand-written letter. G.G. loved people and the Lord in the best sort of way. When she was with you, she "loved your neck" and when she wasn't with you, she was thinking about you and praying for you and writing you a letter to let you know. And there was nothing you could do to make her love you any less.

I cannot speak of G.G. without talking about her love of people and the Lord and His Word, and I cannot speak of G.G. without talking about her killer style. If I could have half of G.G.'s taste in clothes, then I would always be the most stylish girl in the room. She was always the most stylish girl in the room- at 23, at 83.

She was a woman of truth.

She was a woman of love.

She was a woman of grace.

She was a women of style.

She was a woman of friends.

She was a woman of family....

G.G. stands for Grandmother Gravlee... And G.G. was Tupelo's grandmother, but she also had 5 of her own, and how she poured herself into them! Every Tuesday night, all the grandchildren spent the night at the Gravlee's. You can't help but look at the Gravlee's and hope to have a family like they have one day. And now I look at the Kellum's and think the same thing, because the Gravlee's legacy of love is so present in their children's families.

I have the privilege and blessing of being close to two of her granddaughters and seeing all the G.G. that she left behind in them. Tyler has G.G.'s personality, Darby her spirit. Darby has her style, Tyler that look G.G. gave when she was content.

They both have her heart.

So we have so much of her and her legacy still here, but who will call Tyler "Tylah?"

May we all live and love a little more like G.G. today.