"Miss" Bobbie: A True Lady

Yesterday our family lost a truly remarkable woman and I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about "Miss" Bobbie.

Our schedule for Christmas when I was growing up was extremely hectic due to all the families' homes that we needed to get to before the day was up. Never was it a chore for me, although I wasn't the one driving. I loved going from house to house seeing all the cousins and the family that I didn't get to see on a regular basis. It would be too complicated and it would take up a lot of space trying to explain my family's branches so I will give you a quick analogy that I have used for years.
It would have been like the Brady Bunch coming together just like the show, but the parents having one child together. That child,  in this example, would have been my Dad. My brother and I were related to them all.
We have our mother's parents and our father's parents, but then we had "Miss" Bobbie and Mr. Thomas. She was the mother of my daddy's brothers and sister. As a child, I didn't know the difference in which family was blood relatives and which weren't. They were all simply my family. She was another grandmother figure or maybe a great-aunt to me. She always asked Nathan and I how we were doing in school and gave us gifts for Christmas. I didn't know until I was a teenager that she wasn't actually a blood family member.
This makes her even more of an angel in my opinion. She loved and cared for us out of the kindness of her heart not because we were actual kin to her. We never felt any different.
She always had such a warm disposition about her and a great big smile when she saw us come through the door into her house that I grew to know and love over the years.  We have many home movies and old pictures sitting around in her living room. My little sister, Taylor, took her very first "on her own" steps in "Miss" Bobbie's dining room in her little Christmas dress.
So many meals and memories that I have are flooding back now as I sit here and try to sum up how I feel about someone that loved me even though she didn't have to. I didn't see her often but she has inspired me. Family has nothing to do with last names or genetic make-up, but much more to do with the love that you have for one another.
This truly great lady will be greatly missed and her children and grandchildren are in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time of coping with such a major loss. My heart is broken thinking of how Thomas must feel losing his wife of 40 years. I love all of you and know that I am thinking of you.


Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.