My Mimi

Everyone who knows me, knows that one of the great influences of my life was my Mimi Darling. Mimi, my mom's mom, was one of my dearest friends. We shared a love of coffee,which started with her slipping it to me at a very young age, books, I got her hooked on Christian fiction, and shopping, my dad still talks about her dragging him from store to store the night I was born. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her, and sometimes, when I miss her quite a bit, I find myself pulling out that old blue night gown, the one I used to swing on, to see if it still smells like her. It does. I prayed for several "pre-child" years that Mimi, who struggled with lung cancer for quite a while, would live to see my first baby. The Lord answered that prayer, and some of the most precious photos and videos I have capture her dancing and singing to her great grand. In November it will mark her being gone for one year, and I still cannot believe it. I still reach for the phone to call her during times of trouble or triumph. And although a year has passed, I had not gone back to visit her house, the place where I spent many a summer and winter break. It wasn't until a few weeks ago where I felt the strong desire to take my little one to play in the front yard, where I spent so many hours. He laughed and played while throwing rocks around the front porch. She wouldn't have had it any other way.. well, maybe not the rock throwing.