A to Z Blogging Challenge 2013: G is for Grandma Spence and Granny Gunter

I could have chosen to write about the surname Gunter today since it is "G" day. But, April is the birthday month for our grandmothers. Both of mine and one of David's were born in April. I was struggling with what to write today and saw this on Pinterest. It is the inspiration for today's post:

                     

                                 Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via MryJhnsn on Pinterest

                                                                                                                         

My grandma and granny were two of the most beautiful people that I have known. They were completely different in their way of seeing things, but a great deal alike in their love for their grandchildren. Being born in 1917 and 1921 respectively, they lived through the Great Depression. They knew what it was like to do without and to be hungry. Childhood was hard. One endured a dinner visit at her aunt's home during the Depression, having to watch her cousins eat fried chicken and not being allowed to have any herself because Auntie "only had enough for her own children." Both would give the shirts off of their backs if they thought you needed it. Both lived with tremendous heartache, one having her baby beaten out of her and later losing a son as he served in the US Army in Germany, and the other burying a toddler who died of an infection caused by inhaling an orange seed and mourning the loss of a murdered son and daughter-in-law.

Grandma McClendon, David's grandma, was born in 1910 and was from a family of 12 children. She lost her husband at an early age. She was left to raise three children the oldest of which was 17, and the youngest was 9 years old, while being confined to a wheelchair. Through strong will and determination, she learned to walk again. She outlived two of her children, one of which died in infancy. The hospital nurse held Grandma's legs together as the baby's head was crowning while they waited to switch her from the labor room to the delivery room. Her baby girl died at three days old. The other, her oldest son, died in her front yard. She was a very kind woman and an excellent cook, just like my Granny. I never heard her say an unkind word about anybody, though I heard people being unkind in regards to her. These women suffered much and loved deeply. We were blessed to have them in our lives for as long as we did. Happy birthday to all of our April grandmas!  


We should all have one person who knows how to bless us despite the evidence, Grandmother was that person to me. ~Phyllis Theroux (Quote Garden, 2012)