On Thursday, February 14^th, Heaven received a very special gift. Christine Watkins Hudson was my grandmother. I was fortunate to spend a large portion of my life with her up until now. I knew her very well. I loved her deeply and unconditionally.

Many of you knew her through your own experiences, but I want to share with you how I knew her. Grandma was born in 1920 and she spent her teenage years living through the Depression. In fact, it seemed as if she never quite let the era go. Fifty years later I was still trying to convince her that the city’s electricity wasn’t lost on one burning light bulb and that it wasn’t much of a waste to throw away a brown banana.

I never remember Grandma driving a car. I asked her why and she said because the one time she tried driving she nearly hit a train. That was enough for her and she swore she’d never get behind the wheel of a car again. This is quite ironic as she had absolutely no reservations whatsoever of getting in a car with me driving. No one in the family would claim that I am a good driver except Grandma. In fact, she claimed I was an excellent driver. She never tried to stamp on the imaginary brake petal in the floor board of the passenger seat like everyone else does. She would hold on tight to the grip handle and tell me she wasn’t scared the whole way.

Grandma loved to go riding. She didn’t care where you took her as long as she could go somewhere. Most of the time she only wanted to look out the window at the scenery passing by. She liked to visit people and she didn’t think it was necessary to call them first. She loved to visit graveyards and she always kept flowers on Grandpa’s grave and her son, Tommy’s grave. That was very important to her.

Other important things were ice cream and bananas. No matter how tired she was or what kind of mood she was in, she never turned down ice cream. She was the only 81 year old I knew who was reluctant to share ice cream with a four year old. She protected her ice cream like Grandpa guarded his snicker bars and coka-colas.

Grandma loved Christmas. Every year she wanted to ride around and look at Christmas lights. She loved to decorate and many times she’d let me help her. She always sent out Christmas cards and she never missed my birthday. This year when I turned thirty, it was the first year she was unable to send me a card as she was in the hospital.

I got away with a lot of things. When daddy was determined I needed a spanking, I always ran and hid behind Grandma’s legs. I hardly ever got any spankings when Grandma was around.

She loved the beach. She enjoyed walking along the water’s edge and letting the small waves splash on her legs. While we played in the water and sand, she would sit for hours under the shade of an umbrella and watch us. She loved looking for seashells. From every trip she would bring home a new collection.

Grandma was stubborn. She would get something in her mind and that was that. There was no changing it. If she wanted to go to the beach for a visit and no one could get off work to take her, she’d take a bus. Of course, she’d call me and I wouldn’t tell her no, not even when I was fifteen with boys and other things on my mind. I took my moments when I could. I shared my thoughts, my heart with her, and my dreams with her and she rewarded me by doing the same. She told me many stories about her life before I was born because I took the time to ask her, and to listen. She taught me a lot, but more important than that, she loved me. I knew she loved me even when she was mad at me. We had a very special relationship that very few get to experience with their grandparents. I was lucky and I have no regrets, but I will miss her – a lot.

Grandma may have not belonged to a church, but she was saved. I know because I asked her and she confessed her salvation to me. She told me about the time when she became saved and over the years we have discussed her beliefs. I know she believed and I know she was ready. The day she died, she said, "Let me go."

There are so many memories I would like to share that would make you laugh and cry if only I had the time. I will close by saying this, Grandma was more than a grandma to me. She was a friend that can never be replaced, and in many ways, my second mother. Grandma was a loving, wonderful person. I know because I gave her the chance to show me and to love me.

By

Jennifer Hudson Taylor