Hettie

stella & great grandma
another stella & great grandma
meg with her great-grandma
hettie mae andrews parrott 1920-2008


I've been bad about blogging lately, especially since Saturday the 5th, when we got the news that my beloved grandma Hettie had passed away. She hadn't been well for years, but the past few months had been especially rough. When I saw her at Christmas, I just knew she wasn't long for this world. And ten days later, she lost her life to complications from pneumonia.

I almost feel guilty at how little I seem to be grieving. I can only believe that her not suffering any longer, unable to breathe, walk, or do much for herself, is a blessing. The grandma that I miss isn't the one that's been for the past few years, but the one that I had when I was growing up.

My parents separated when I was 11, and my mom and I moved into a house right across the street from Hettie. We spent a good deal of time together even before that, but when we moved there, I was at her house every day. As any good Southern grandma should, she was constantly pressuring me to eat, eat, eat. There was no calorie counting in that house, let me tell you - some things I remember VERY FONDLY include chocolate pie, homemade cheese biscuits, and this dish that now sounds so nasty to me, but at the time it was sooooo good - it was basically a chicken baked in a sour cream sauce wrapped in bacon. Yuck - and yum.

She was about 5 feet tall in heels but still somehow played basketball on her highschool team. I think she also won some yodeling award - don't ask - and at age 16, she left the family farm in Eastern NC for nursing school. Before that, she had never even seen a telephone! She worked as a nurse, primarily an ER nurse, for something like 45 or 50 years. The hospital in my hometown honored her on several occasions for her service to the community.

She had four kids (in 5 years, can you imagine?) and 5 grandkids, and now she has 5 great-grandkids. Out of all the grandkids, I was definitely the closest to her. We spent countless hours just hanging out, sitting on her porch or around the island in her kitchen (in which I so tackily carved "marian wuz here" when I was old enough to know better) eating Werther's Originals candies. Sometimes we'd just get in the car and ride around. She'd even meet me and my friends for lunch when I was in highschool and treat us all to the meal.

I remember once going out to dinner with her at the local pizza place, and as we were backing out of the parking space, she bumped into the car parked beside her. She decided to just drive away, quickly, all the while telling me I should never do that. Of course she didn't even leave a mark, but that still makes me laugh, because it was so out of character for her.

She was just a great lady, and I will miss her dearly. love you grandma.

And if this wasn't downer enough, today is 4 years since my dad died. Lord, get me out of January!