Thinking about (and missing) grandma

Yesterday as I was driving to work, the song “The Best of Times (Grandma’s Song)” by Dianne Reeves was playing on the radio. That song always makes me cry because it makes me think of Grandma Charlie Mack. I was very close to her growing up, visiting her often during the summers and holidays at her home in North Carolina. Eventually she would come to live with my family in Maryland. She died when I was in my sophomore year of high school.

My fondest memories of my grandma are of the two of us sitting together on the couch singing hymns out of her old hymnal. She was a very devout Baptist, and she loved to hear me sing the Gospel. She also liked to share stories of growing up in her large family in North Carolina. She was 1 of 13 children. She used to tell me stories of her oldest brother, James, who had served in World War II, and of her two sisters who had died in infancy. She was always a wealth of knowledge regarding the family’s history.

She also told me the story behind her unusual name. Her father named her after his best friend because he thought he and my great grandmother weren’t going to have anymore children, and therefore no more sons. His last two children at the time my grandmother was born were girls. It’s funny to think about it now since he ended up having 9 more children and 3 of them were sons. Go figure!

Anyhow, that song has been ringing in my head all morning. I guess I’m really missing my grandma today.

Those really were the best of times.