Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Dear Cousins -- Tomorrow marks the anniversary of Moma leaving us to be with her Lord and the rest of the family. I know how much all of you miss her and you know how very much I miss her. It's a bittersweet day because I know she is standing tall and without pain but the ache in my heart will always be there. Moma loved life and having fun so I am asking all of you to write a special memory - funny or otherwise - that you have of Pat Gracey. She was my best friend and the best mother in the world (How could she not be because she had such a great example in Fay Cusenbary!!!) Thanks in advance for all the memories. I love you all, Jody
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I have so many wonderful memories of Pat that it's hard to narrow it down, but I remember how much my granddaughters loved coming to her house and visiting with her. She was so good with them, and they loved her. I wish they could have spent more time with her. I miss her and know that I will see her again, along with all our other loved ones who have gone before us.
Suzy
I can say without a doubt that I had THE BEST Nana that ever was. She was my playmate, my protector, my confidant, my friend, my favorite Grandmother, and my Nana. No words can do justice to the hole in my heart she left, but I know she's with me everyday and I can't wait to hug her again.
I do have to add my favorite Nana story EVER (yes it is a true story. Ask my Mom)
My Nana was a hoot. You never knew what she was going to come up with, but this one topped them all and to this day, years later, I laugh til I hurt when I think of it:
I was over at Mom and Nana's one morning before I went to work at the bank. I was sitting in Mom's bedroom, talking to her and Nana hadn't gotten up yet. She was awake, though. Anyway, the Kobe Bryant rape case was in the news and Mom had the paper and it stated that the victim recanted her story. Mom and I thought it was yet another "OJ Thing" and were complaining about it. Nana came in to say "Morning" and we asked her what she thought about it. With a bob to her head, she said the following
"I don't know why she went to his hotel room if she didn't want to get F$@KED." I don't remember much after that because my oxygen supply had been cut off due to the hysterical laughter. A few weeks later, we had a family reunion at Nana's and I told Diane, Candy and Susan about it. No one believed me. I said "Go ask Nana" they did. I think it was Diane who said "Aunt Pat, did you say the F-word?" she replied "I sure did!" and they laughed too.
God Bless that woman.
Um, I would have passed plum out if I had heard the F-word come out of Aunt Pat's mouth.
Rachel
Best I can remember, I didn't have any oxygen around me either, but I think it was from the sharp intake of everyone around me. She was a hoot.
I remember when she had pretty much lost her vision; she was awaiting news of a donor for her cornea transplant. I was visiting in Graham, and it was her final Sunday as director of her Sunday school department; she felt she couldn't do the job anymore without her sight.
Her Sunday school department presented her with a check to help with related medical expenses and as an expression of their love and admiration for her. She told us about it at lunch at Granny's that day.
I asked her how much the check was for; she said she didn't know -- she couldn't read it, but thanked everyone profusely at Sunday school. She asked me to look at it and tell her amount; she nearly fainted when I read the amount: $600.00. She was so touched by everyone's generosity.
My favorite Pat story happened in Lubbock, Texas, in the early 1970s: Pat was visiting us, and we were watching "As the World Turns." I was doing my nails, and so didn't get up to change channels when the program was over (this was BRC: Before Remote Control). Another soap came on and the drama/tragedy was intense. I heard sniffles/sobs coming from Pat's direction; I looked and she was crying tears and looking quite anguished. I said, "Oh, Pat, is this one of your shows?"
She answered through sobs, "I've never seen it before in my life."
She would and could commiserate with real and unreal people she knew and didn't know!!
From Aunt Bula~
I remember when she was a pretty and popular teenager. A high school cheerleader, she had lots of guys coming by for her. And I remember more than once when she broke the car's axle by hitting a bump too hard with too many kids in the car. I remember when she and Catherine were taking a postgraduate business course and I was in first grade, we stayed home from school one rainy day and played with paperdolls that they had cut out of catalogs
I remember when she told me that she had met the cutest red-headed guy--much different from the boys she'd known all her life. And I remember after she and Vernon had eloped, she left the marriage licence on the piano for Mother and Daddy to find.
I remember when she gave me a junior high school graduation party on the lawn at Babb's Apartment where you all were living. It gave us girls a chance to wear our long, summery dresses we graduated in and I had never had a party like that before.
She was a strong, smart woman who took care of and supported her family on her own but still had a good life and enjoyed her church, family, work and the many organizations she was involved in.
John and I loved staying with her when we came to Graham. After visiting the folks, we'd have supper at her house and play games and visit We miss her.
These are all such beautiful stories that I'm sitting here in tears, especially after the one from Estelle. There are so many fond memories that I have of Aunt Pat that it would be far too hard to isolate just one, but after reading these from the rest of you, it makes me realize how little I knew of Aunt Pat. It was always a joy to visit her in the County Clerk's office and have her show us around, find interesting records, make copies of birth certificates, which she could make "certified" by her magic touch. Visiting her in the hospital in Fort Worth after her eye surgery she was in such great spirits and her sense of humor still shown through. Definitely cut from the same bolt of cloth as her strong, sensitive mother, she was a wonderful gift to us and I miss her as well.
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