Papa's Ninety!

On February 6, 1926, an extraordinary person was born, one of my hero's, someone I love with all my heart, my Papa Crawford.  As a little girl, I would run around his milk barn with my sister, Katie, and cousin, Jill.  We couldn't wait for the milk truck to show up, the driver would always give us a carton of ice cold milk to drink.  We spent many hours playing in the barn, letting the calves suck on our fingers, building hideouts, trying to tame the wild barn kittens, creating escape routes, riding the 4-wheeler around the farm and the list goes on and on.  When we weren't outside we worked puzzles, colored, roller skated in the basement, set up photo shoots and pretended to be models, and sang to the top of our lungs...Grundy County Auction and The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia were our favorites.  I have too many wonderful memories to count, but I am willing to bet my Aunt Linda probably has most of them on video.  haha! Visiting Papa and Granny was always something I looked forward to.

Going to visit is still one of my favorite things to do.  I wish we were able to go more often.  Time always seems to slow down at Granny and Papas.  You sit around the kitchen table for lunch and dinner, you visit with company, you walk around the farm and check out the chickens and the goldfish.  Yes, I said goldfish.  They live in the concrete watering tank that the cows drink from.  You relax and enjoy the family that you don't get to see near enough.  I cherish our visits and thank God that my children have also been blessed with making memories at Papa and Granny's.

  

Me with my grandparents.  A handsome couple, don't you think?  And here's to hoping I get my Granny's hair gene!  That's her natural color with very little gray.

My grandparents, Dad, and Aunts.

Papa and Granny with my kiddo's.

Lakelyn was super excited to get the last of the coke.  When I was a kid, right behind where Lakelyn is standing, was always a jar full of Little Debbie Cakes.  Mom would never buy them, so getting one out of Granny's kitchen was always a treat.  I bet by the time we left, they had all been eaten.

One of my favorite places in the world.

My grandparent's church.  I have so many memories coming here as a child.  My Aunt Edna and the church congregation singing "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem," the slow drive to and from church (I always thought we would never get there, even though it was only five minutes away),  and on nice days Jill, Katie and I would walk back to Papa and Granny's after church.

   

My great grandparents home, Papa Gosser and Mama Gosser.  I only have one memory of my Mama Gosser, I was standing by her bed and she looked over at me and said, "You sure are a pretty girl."  I suppose I was three or so.  My Papa Gosser drove a beige Volkswagen Beetle.  It seems like every time we went to Papa and Granny's it would be parked at the graveyard where he was visiting Mama Gosser's grave site.  I remember asking Mom and Dad why he was always there.  Mom would say, "To take her flowers. He misses her."  (I think that's when I first started hoping I would find a love like that someday.)  But I mostly remember him sitting in a chair whittling and his smile...I still remember his smile.  For years every Gosser reunion was held at their home, even after they were both gone.  Baseball in the back yard, a hay wagon full of yummy food, the toys under the stairs, playing on the cellar roof, tag, hide and seek, more cousins than you can count, those are all part of my childhood memories at this home.

I could not be more grateful for my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and all the wonderful memories.  Happy 90th Papa!