Goodbye Great Grandma Tyus

Hey Sweet Pea,

   I’m so sorry to tell you that your Great Grandma Tyus just passed away this month.  She was such a neat lady and loved you so much.  Since I recently had more time to talk, I called her a lot the first six weeks before and after you were born.  She wanted to know all about you and would even talk just to you on the phone, saying “Hi Noah!”  I’m sad you two never got to meet, but she did know you through our conversations and through pictures and agreed what a good boy you are and how big and strong you are (to which she said repeatedly how proud of me she was for that!).  Your daddy’s cousin, Katie, told me she saw her the day before she died and said she was asking about you and said she wished she could have met you…this made me cry!  When we went to GA for the funeral, all of her friends and neighbors flooded us with meal upon meal, showing true family love and Southern hospitality.  Three different people told me that she loved all the pictures I sent her of you and enjoyed you that way.  Her sister was one of the people who came over and immediately wanted to hold you-a sweet picture for me-Grandma didn’t get to hold you but her sister did.

   You are so lucky to have people like her in your blood.  She was one of the hardest working people I’ve known, living on her own in the county into her 80’s and always hosting her five kids and 11 grandkids at each Thanksgiving and on many occasions throughout the year, including blueberry season where the family would flock like birds to pick from her thirty blueberry trees.  You’d never see her sitting down when there was a crowd-she was always doing something around the yard or house, usually in the kitchen, because she was a true Southern cook!  Lunch was dinner and dinner was supper-homemade fried chicken, mayonnaise and cheese on pears, eleven layer made-from-scratch chocolate and caramel cake, Bluebell ice cream, sweet tea (there was always sweet tea), butter mixed in with scrambled eggs next to local Guillard sausage and homemade Mahaw and blueberry jam for breakfast every morning; I could go on and on.  If you ever taste Paula Dean’s cooking at The Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, it almost measures up to your Great Grandma Tyus’ cooking, almost.  I once used one of her recipes for Almond Pecan cookies to take to a Christmas cookie exchange and vowed it my last exchange ever as I ended up sorely disappointed when I gave away all her amazing cookies for much lesser ones.  I’ll include the recipe below: 

 

 

Grandma Tyus’ Cookies

-1 c. butter

-3/4 c. sugar

-3/4 c. brown sugar

-2 tsp. vanilla ext

-½ tsp. almond ext

-2.5 c. flour

-1 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. bake soda

-1 tsp. bake powder

-2 c. chopped pecans

-Cream butter and sugars.  Beat eggs and extract.  Combine dry.  Make round ball and press out with fork.  Cook at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.

   One of the best things about her was her faith.  She was a true Christian woman who loved God and loved her family.  She attended a small county Baptist church every week and was faithful in prayer.  She and your Great Granddaddy Tyus raised five kids with very little money to spare and saw them all grow up to graduate from college, most with Engineering degrees.  “We didn’t know what we were doing, we just did the best we knew how” was one of her common humble phrases.  She didn’t give much advice, but did comment a few times that “a house is meant to be lived in, so it seems to me you should only have one house” and when referring to marriage, said that a man should not marry a mean wife.  Not so common, common sense!

   Just as importantly, she knew how to tell a good story and how to laugh.  She enjoyed her family and would often sit on the edge of the circle of people with a smile on her face, enjoying the conversation.  She was a special lady and a neat part of your heritage.  We already miss her very much and trust she is resting in peace with Jesus right now.  Here's some more pics of our weekend down there, which felt more a celebration of her life and a family reunion:

Love,

Mommy