Granny's Diamonds

My Granny had the most beautiful, amazing collection of diamonds I have ever set eyes on. Perfect clarity. Perfect sparkle. Perfect color. They were priceless. There were too many to count. I miss them every day.
Granny's diamonds were the reflection of the sun on the Little River, where she and my Mom's dad, Grandad at the River, lived in Weeksville, NC. Every time we visited Granny and Grandad at the River, we admired her diamonds.
She said she didn't need expensive jewelry, cars or vacations. She had her diamonds on the river. Not a day goes by that I don't think about and miss my Granny, and her diamonds.
My Granny was wild. She was awesome. In high school, my friends and I would make the hour-long drive to visit her and my Grandaddy to fish, swim and relax. It says something about my grandparents that high school kids wanted to hang out with them.
Granny's house always smelled like food. A lot of food. A lot of rich, fattening food. It's a wonder why I wasn't the poster child for childhood obesity. Every time we visited it was an almost unimaginable amount of food. Prime rib. Peach pie. Macaroni and cheese. Pecan pie. Gelatin mold salad. Candied yams. Greens. Lobster. I could go on and on. She made everything from scratch. Right down to the buttery-crisp waffles for breakfast. My grandfather had an amazing garden, and much of the vegetables came from right out the back door.
I still remember the smell of her skin, slick and soft after she smothered it in cream before bed. I love that smell. It brings a smile to my face and lump to my throat.
Granny could sew anything. Her style was always ahead-of-her-time. She didn't know it, but she's definitely my fashion icon. She had jet black hair, pink cheeks, an infectious smile and fuscia lipstick. She insisted on driving a red Volvo too fast. And high heels. Always high heels or shiny leather boots. And hats! Not just at Easter, but any day.
She loved the Golden Girls. And when my family spent the night. She found pleasure in just living her life day to day. In watching her diamonds, planting her flowers and cooking her meals. She dressed up to "go to town" for flowers and turned heads everywhere she walked.
Her yard bursted at the seems with color. Flowers so healthy and so fragrant it made me dizzy. I don't quite have her green thumb, but I definitely have her love of flowers. And I actually have many of her irises and ginger lilies in my yard.
My Granny sang and danced while she cooked. She dove off of the dock in her seventies. She could water ski and jet ski. She fished, and she painted.
I have dozens of her paintings, several framed and hanging on my walls. I love them. They're amazing. Giant flowers with color bursting in thick oils.
I hope I'm feisty like my Granny. She wasn't afraid to be different and stand up for herself. She lived her life the way she saw fit, and didn't give people's opinions a second thought. She emanated self confidence, and with good reason. She was absolutely stunning.
It's difficult for me to describe just what made my Granny so special. I can't put my finger on it. There was just something about her. She was wild, smart, innovative and artistic.
Without a doubt, she was my most influential grandparent, and I miss her daily. My best dreams revolve around Granny. I love dreams where I'm at her house. I wake up with a smile on my face and the smell of her face cream in my nose.
My Granny passed away while I was in grad school. When my mom moved the hospital bed into the house, she made sure to face Granny where she could see her diamonds in her last days. In the end, that's all she wanted. To see her beautiful, perfectly gleaming diamonds on the river.

Just like my Mom

My mom rocks. She's the best mother I know,and my parenting hero. She embodies PTA. Was the star parent in every classroom, cooked every night, built the best indoor forts, threw the best birthdays and had carted our friends around. She was SuperMom. I strive, everyday, to strive to her example. With one exception.

I was young...maybe six or eight. We were walking back from feeding the horses at the barn in the pitch black night. "Mom, look! And owl!" "No, Frances. That isn't an owl. It's too big. It's just part of the tree, honey." "No, mom...I think it's an owl. It even has horns!" "No, that's not an....ahhhhhhHh!"
It was in fact an owl. A very large, horned owl. And it was flying straight toward me.
I use the word me purposefully, because my SuperMom literally ran me over in the gravel driveway to get to safety. She ran over her daughter. And I've never let her live it down.

Thankfully, I have a 50/50 chance of Juni not remembering me trampling his Monday afternoon in the park. We were walking in the woods with Juni's friend Kyle and his mom Grace. Of course we were all totally unprepared, wearing shorts and flipflop. So when I stepped on an unsuspecting green snake, he proceeded to wrap his slimy, slithery body around my ankle.
And that was it. I was out. I squealed, and the next thing I knew, Grace cam hobbling out of the woods balancing a boy on each hip.
"Did you see the snake, Juni?" I asked. Grace laughed and said "I'm thinking no. The only thing that kid saw was the dust from your flipflops. You left him so fast he had no idea what was happening!"

History once again repeated itself. I ran over my child. Hopefully, history will again repeat itself, and Juni will think of me the way I think of my mom...SuperMom.

A Redneck Wedding

Jasen and I took Juni to his first wedding this weekend. It was perfect. Here's why:

Dallas is a redneck. He's an extraordinarily brauny man that climbs and cuts down trees for a living. A real live lumberjack. I would not want to face him in a bar fight. Dallas' heart is just as big as his physique. His bride, Adele, keeps him in line. She's fiesty, strikingly beautiful, and exceptionally grounded.
I first knew this wedding was going to be unique when I first asked Dallas about the dresscode. His reply was "If you're wearing clothes, we'll let you in." Alrightly then! Sunday best it is.
Jasen insisted on bringing a tie, depite my reassuraces that it was unneeded. He would have looked like an idiot. Espcially considering most of the men were in shorts and flipflops. A few of the women were, too.
The wedding was outside, on the Currituck Sound, and absolutely breathtaking. And not just because the groomsmen were beside the house smoking. The weather could not have been more perfect, the sound of the water and wind mixed with the smell of roses was amazing.
So was the fact that just about everyone had a beer in their hand. During the ceremony. It was absolutely hillarious, and only got better.
Adele's oldest brother performed the ceremony. The newlyweds officially tied the knot Wednesday, so this was just for show. And a show it was.
I have decided I absolutely adore Adele's brother. He wore black pants, a white shirt, and shiny, metallic-esqe royal blue jacket. Did I mention the folded printer paper with words to repeat? Yup. He pulled out a piece of paper and recited it, almost word-for-word. When he digressed, Adele had to remind him that she, too, got to repeat after him and place the ring on Dallas' finger. Priceless.
The reception was again outside and on the water. Dallas' dad cooked barbecue, and we ate off of paper plates. The wedding party drank out of altered wine glasses ... wait for it ... the stem resembled a candle stick and the cup ... this is great ... was a mason jar. Absolutely wonderful. The glasses were from the couple's favorite local bar.
The kids danced the entire night, ate pigs in a blanket, and played at the stocked kiddie table. The adults drained the self-serve bar and laughed at Juni while he cut the literal rug placed over part of the grass as an impromptu dance floor.
I absolutely loved this wedding. And not just because Juni had such a blast and the people watching was impeccable. I loved this wedding because Dallas and Adele stayed true to who they are. They didn't fall into the trap of spending too much, inviting too many and letting the whole ordeal take over.
This wedding was about love. Not about how much money the father of the bride dropped, or where the reception was at or "who" the bride was wearing.
It was refreshing to see a registry where the most expensive item was a $150 set of pots and pans. I loved that the newlyweds arrived at the reception via their pontoon boat.
This was a wedding I will never forget for many reasons. Juni danced for hours and passed out on the way home. Jasen and I spent the night watching and laughing with him. But it was more than that. Juni's first wedding showed him what a wedding should be about - two people wrapping their lives together. Two people taking an awesome risk with each other. Two people that will stand together and fight with and for one another, hopefully forever.

These two people didn't go into debt just for one day. They celebrated their relationship by letting us in on the party. And the wedding was just as beautiful as they are, and as beautiful as their marriage will be.

Car Conversations

Juni and I spend a lot of time in the car. That's what happens when you live on the outskirts. We rock out, we roll the windows down, and we talk. Some our best conversations take place in the car. Questions abound. "Mommy, what my finger made of?" "Mommy, when I gonna get bigger?" "Mommy, you do dat when you a girl?" "Mommy, you know daddy when he a boy?"
Some questions are better than others...

Mommy.
Yes, Juni?
Everybody die?
Yes, Juni. Everybody dies.
(short pause) Mommy.
Yes, Juni?
Everybody die when they get old?
Yes, Juni. Everybdy dies when they get very, very old.
(longer pause) Mommy...Nanny and PaPa very, very old you know. They gonna die aday (today)?
No, Juni. Not today.
(pretty long pause this time) Mommy...when you gonna die?
No time soon, baby. Mommy's not old yet.
Mommy...you old, you know.
Thanks for that, son. Seriously. I'm not old.
(a minute later) Mommy...Shelby die, you know.
Yes, Juni. I know.
I miss her, you know. I love my new puppy Sadie, but I still miss my old dog, Shelby. I miss playing with her, you know.
I know, Juni. I miss her, too. (now I have a lump in my throat)
You ran ober (over) her with the car, you know.
Okay! Enough talk about death. Seriously, son. At this point, I'll talk about anything else. Politics? Religion? Where do babies come from? Take your pick.
Mommy...I already know where babies come from, you know.
Um...Okay.
Mommies get big bellies and den (then) poop dem (them) out. Just like the chickens poop out eggs and cows poop out baby cows.
Um...okay. who told you that, baby?
Daddy did. Mommy...when you gonna poop out your baby?
Excuse me? I'm not pregnant, Juni. I'm not pooping out any babies any time soon. Can we maybe talk about death again?
Alright, Mommy. But you do have a big belly, you know.
Thanks, Juni ... Okay! Unbuckle your belt...we're here! Thank the lord...