Tribute to my Gram Bryant

Last week we shared quite a few tributes to moms who have gone on to be with the Lord, but left wonderful legacies behind. I had one final tribute to write, but needed some pictures to include.

So just a few days ago, while at my mom's house on Mother's Day, we dug through some old boxes to find the pictures posted here today.

This is my mom's mom, Mary Bryant, or as we called her, Gram Bryant. She passed away 20 plus years ago, but having lived with us or very near us all of my growing up years, there are lots of memories!

She loved flowers and always worked very hard on her garden. One of my summer jobs was mowing her tiny lawn.

This is my mom when she was little- this pic is so cute!

When my mom was young, my grandma and grandpa ran a restaurant. Check out this old picture of it.My grandpa is the tall one on the right, and Gram is next to him. Look at that cash register!

My earliest years Gram lived with us downstairs. My Grandpa passed on when I was very little. I remember loving to sleep with my grandma downstairs in her bed, even though she occasionally gave me an eery thrill with her funny way of telling borderline spooky stories.

She was a woman of tall tales. Story telling drama. When I slept with her she put me on the side of the bed by the wall. She'd tell me "There's snakes down there" speaking of under the bed.
Why? I dunno.

But I loved it.

She was smart. She knew all kinds of poetry. We recited lots of poetry by memory in bed. A favorite was "Little Orphan Annie".

Later, growing up in Ponca City, she lived nearby our family. She never drove her whole life.

We walked to the park, to the grocery store...

Whenever my mom cooked goulash, I called to see if I could spend the night with her and eat anything but goulash.

photo credit

I spent the night with her often. We played cards, usually Rummy, while we drank coffee with lots and lots of sugar and cream.

She made fresh squeezed lemonade.

She didn't have a disposal and it was yucky to reach in her sink when we did dishes.

We filled up S & H green stamp books when she bought groceries, then traded books in for prizes. Anyone else remember doing that?

photo credit

I might have occasionally watched shows with her that I wasn't allowed to watch at home.

She loved soap operas. We watched Night Court.

She always watched church services on TV too.

She did crossword puzzles daily her entire life and knew a ridiculous amount of words.

I asked my mom to share 5 Things she's glad her mom did in raising her. Here is what she shared:

1. I'm thankful for a wonderful Mother who always loved me. I saw and felt her love.

2. She always provided the means for me to do things that I wanted to do. Private clarinet lessons, private piano lessons. She always put me first before herself.

3. She made wise decisions for me when I was too young to make the right decision. For instance, I enrolled in Latin in Junior High school, and she promptly unenrolled me stating that it would be useless to me and of course, she was right. I only did it because my best friend was enrolled in Latin but then she went on to become a doctor.

4. When I was a Sophomore in high school I took Shorthand but didn't like it so I made an inferior grade just because I didn't study or apply myself. I then told Mother that I wanted out of it but she said "NO". You will stay in the class. So I resigned myself to study and made all A's after that. I did use Shorthand in at least one or two jobs that I had.

5. She always worked hard being in the restaurant business and had very long days but somehow once she found the time to make me a Halloween costume by hand because I wanted to be a harem girl. HAHA!! I remember her sewing sequins on the top patiently, one by one. That was an act of pure love.

"I guess I miss her more than I have ever missed anyone. She was a special Mother and a very special Grandmother to my children."

(She was a fun grandma for sure. LOL that my mom wanted to be a harem girl. I wish we had pictures of that!)