Friday, February 8, 2013

A Beautiful Lady and Name

Meet Mattie

Photobucket
Elegant


Photobucket
Young and stylish


Photobucket
Young and in love


Photobucket
A new mom to her firstborn daughter. 

Photobucket
An experienced mom of four little ones. 

Isn't she beautiful? She is my wonderful husband's grandmother, and she left her family too soon.  A few years before I met Eddie, he and his family suffered through the loss of their matriarch and leader.  She had developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  During her fight against this terrible disease, she worked hard to ensure that she would leave behind her legacy for her children and grandchildren to remember.  She hand wrote her memoirs for us.  By reading these, I feel as though I knew her too.  She was a petite little lady, but she was pretty tough.  I know that she loved to read and that her favorite book was Jane Eyre (also one of my favorites).  I know that she loved history and visiting historic sites (I am also a history lover).  I know that she had green eyes (also like me).  I know that her favorite flower was a sunflower, and much like the flower, she was a cheerful and happy person.  Her favorite color was green which is known to be the favorite color of geniuses and is also one of Evan's favorite colors.  She held education, family, and her faith in the highest regard.  After raising her four children, she went back to school to complete her Bachelor's and then Master's degrees and then became a well-known force in her local school system.  She was a wonderful example to her children and grandchildren, and many of them, including my husband, are where they are today because of her influence.  They pursued higher education and put faith and family first in their lives.  I just love this quote from her memoirs that summarized her life philosophy:

I have learned three lessons that I have built my life upon concerning education, family, and church.

Education:  Going to school and learning to read opened a door beyond my narrow world.  I came to learn that without an education, I would have been sentenced to a life of ignorance and poverty.  So I read everything I could get my hands on and nourished the obsession in my heart and mind for more education.

Family:  From my parents, I learned and felt in my heart that family are the most precious people in our lives.  Seeing them work so hard to care for and provide for our needs has indeed been an inspiration for me to do the same.  They always talked so loving of their parents and siblings.  We never heard them speak despairingly of anyone or fuss and argue with anyone in any way.  We felt that our kin and family were very special.  Their support through all endeavors enabled us to succeed.

Church:  Knowing God in my heart and having the influence of the church’s teachings in my life has been my main and lasting stay.  From my first contact with the church, God gave me a desire to be faithful in attendance and to do all I could to carry out its message of salvation and the ministry of Christ.

I just hate that I never got to meet this woman, but I hope that she is watching us from heaven and is very proud of her great-grandchildren who she never got to meet.  She now has 13, and our little miss will be number 14.  I had decided years ago that if we ever had a daughter, and if no one else in the family chose the name, we would honor this lady by using her name.  So little miss's name will be Mattie.  Her great-grandmother was very big on family names.  She was named after both of her grandmothers, and she named all of her children family names.  Some of them were a little unusual, I admit, but she was an unusual and exceptional lady.

Grandma Mattie,

We hope that you are very happy as you watch your grandchildren play and grow and as we strive to continue your legacy.  We hope our little Mattie will see the example you set for her and will follow in your footsteps and keep her faith, family, and education as the top priorities in her life.  I know it is a different world these days than when you were growing up, and we hope we can instill in her the foundations that will enable her to make wise decisions in her life.  Thank you for leaving behind a wonderful legacy for your family!  

Love,
Photobucket

12 comments:

  1. Awww! I love it. I love even more the reasons behind it. Sam's middle name is after my dad and Rachel's is after my mom's dad's mom. I love family names and think they are so important.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE this! It made me tear up a little! I love learning about people from both mine and Michael's families. I so wish I had done a better job of documenting stories that my great grandmother would tell when I was younger. You don't realize what you had until you're older and they aren't here anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree. I wish I could write down and remember more of the stories my granny told me or just more about our experiences together. Luckily, Eddie's grandmother was such a wonderful and gifted writer and wrote down so many stories for us to read and remember her. I think Mattie will enjoy having those stories to read about her namesake!

      Delete
  3. What a beautiful legacy! Love the name. J's grandmothers name was Mattie. If we ever have a daughter we are naming her after my gr-grandmothers. What a special gift she left you guys. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, Lauren! I actually don't know anyone else with that name so it is neat to hear of others. :-)

      Delete
  4. This made me cry! How beautiful! Grandma would be so happy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I've always loved her name. Of course, I know some of her other name choices were a little "unusual" but they are just part of the unique spirit that she was. :-)

      Delete
  5. Oh I love this and I"m sure she's smiling down on you guys and her wonderful grandchildren and great grandchildren. I was pretty upset that my husband didn't get to meet my grandma & grandpa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely know what you mean. I am glad Eddie did get to meet my Granny before she passed away, and we are both very happy to have introduced the kids to all their living great-grandparents near and far.

      Delete
  6. What a great name! It is great on its own, but even more special because of the great history it has. Evan, Brody and Mattie Reese. I like it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good, I'm glad you approve. I was afraid it would fail your test since it only has six letters. Hehe! I'll share the middle name as well. I have liked giving each of our kids one "family" name and one more original name that is truly their own so I'm going to stick to that rule again. :-)

      Delete

Leave some love! Your comments make me happy!