FFF- 25 Things Plus a Picture

For this post I am deviating from the theme of red, white and blue. Bear with me and I am sure my faithful readers (all 4 of you who are not immediate family) will understand. My grandmother, Big Mama passed away Wednesday night. Although she was 84 and sick, it still feels as if a rug was yanked out from under me. So to keep this blog as much in the land of daisies and rainbows as I can, I thought I would share 25 things I remember/ loved about her and a picture of course.

1. Campbell's Chicken Noodle and yellow Tupperware bowls--we had many a lunch of this during summers off from school
2. How she cried at Little House on the Prairie (and a lot of other shows too)
3. The way her purse smelled like chewing gum (Wrigley's and Freedent mostly)
4. Reading about the day I was born in her diary
5. When we would have to take cover during tornado warnings she always made sure someone grabbed her boxes of pictures
6. She HATED snakes and couldn't stand to see them on TV or in books
7. How proud I was that she was there to welcome Chloe home from the hospital since traveling was not easy on her
8. The crafts she always made with her church groups and for us
9. How strong she had to be to live on her own after my Pop died
10. That she was very close to her sisters
11. She loved sweets of all kinds but especially candy
12. Her caramel pies and red velvet cake
13. She always had hope that we would have a white Christmas--definitely not a given in AL
14. She LOVED the Atlanta Braves and never missed watching a game if she could help it
15. She also loved her "stories" (soap operas for everyone else)
16. The trunk full of fabric that was the springboard for dozens of fashions shows
17. Her green beans, they were the best
18. The twinkle in her eye when she was really happy (can you see it in the picture?)
19. That she was at my wedding in Gatlinburg, another trip that wasn't easy for her to make
20. The stash of peppermint sticks in her kitchen drawer
21. Christina Katerina and the Box, a book I must have read a thousand times at her house
22. The way she ran (or at least moved really fast) when someone said "snake!" in their vegetable garden
23. My red flannel gown she made me at Christmas one year.
24. The fact that she kept the bookmark I gave her in 1995 up until a few weeks ago when she gave it back to me
25. Her very ticklish neck