Beady and Riley September 2003
Rebecca Beatrice Davis was a force to be reckoned with back in the day. Everyone calls her "Bea" and her grand kids all call her "Beady", except my cousin Justin. He has always called her "Grandmother" and I think that's so sweet!
Beady was a saucy lady. She was strong-willed, tenacious, and so passionate about many things. She was at church every time the doors opened and after the service you could probably find her pointing out a scripture to Brother Gaumer and letting him know what she thought about the sermon. She always had gum to give out if you sat with her and if you were talking or acting up, she would reach over and pinch you...hard! I can remember her singing voice in my head and it wasn't exactly on-key but it was beautiful and she knew every word to every song- all 4 stanzas! (C of C, people!) Every once in a while she would look over and smile really big at me while she was singing. I spent a lot of time sitting with Beady at church. :)
Just look how sassy she is. I look afraid of her but I think I'm the only one who wasn't. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "You are just like your grandmother!"
Here is Beady and her sister, Lois. When they get together, they almost speak their own language! It's loud and they sure know how to have fun. This is one of the first couple of years where Beady lives now. Elvis came for Christmas and we had so much fun.
Another thing she was passionate about was cooking. She could cook! I loved her ham at Thanksgiving and would tell her. Her reaction- she would loudly say with a laugh, "Nobody can make ham like I can!" She made really good grilled cheese sandwiches for me when I would stay with her. I was never hurting for food at her house.
One of the reasons that I loved Beady's company was because she would tell it like it is! She definitely had opinions and would crack me up most of the time. There was always lots of laughter at Beady's house and I will remember our big Christmas Eve parties there the most. She had 5 kids with families that all lived pretty close. So, noisy and eventful are words that would describe our times together.
Beady, my mom (the flying nun- the oldest) and Becky and Nikki (the baby). Where are the boys?Almost ten years ago we noticed that she was having trouble remembering. It's so hard watching anyone go through this terrible disease. As hard as it was for me, a grand kid, it was especially rough on my mom and her siblings. They couldn't imagine that someone who never asked for help from anyone seemed so weak and frail. Beady ended up going to a retirement home- a NICE one- with her own room on a hall with other retirees. She was very popular just like always and got used to her life there and everyone coming to visit her.
Beady saying to Riley, "Well, he said he was little!"
In the last couple of years, it's been harder for her to come to my parents house for holidays and it's been really hard lately for my aunts to get her dressed and in the car and for her to even want to come. I talked to her on Thanksgiving and she said, 'What are you doing here?" I told her that I was here for Thanksgiving and was going to eat some good food! " She then said, "Well, I don't have any money for this." It was so sad. I smiled and laughed at her and she laughed too. I hugged her and told her that I loved her.
Through the disease, she is definitely sweet and a lot quieter. She is not herself but we are so lucky to have those memories of her when she was energetic and lively and would let you know if God wouldn't approve of what you were doing. :)
Four Generations- Mom, Beady, Me, and Kylie in 2003
Happy Birthday, Beady. I love you and will always remember your vivacious spirit that made so many people smile and love you back!
4 comments:
we've never had any family member have alzheimers. i can't even imagine how hard that must be.
your grandmother is so pretty. i can't believe she's in her 80s in those pictures. she looks like she hardly has any wrinkles!
I think Kylie looks SO much like your Mom in the "flying Nun" picture!
My grandfather had Alzheimer's, so I know it's tough. Glad you have such wonderful memories with your Beady!
That was so sweet, Traci. I'm really glad that you wrote it all down and I loved reading it. My grandmother also suffered from Alzheimers and it was terrible watching her be so confused and even panicked at times. I have many of the same memories that you do (sitting with her in church, hearing her voice so clearly in my head, terrific home-cooking), and once her personality started to change it was hard reconciling the memories with the person who now lived in her body. Anyway, my heart goes out to your family, especially the primary caregivers because it is so, so hard on them.
By the way, I picked your mom out of that picture immediately...she still looks just like that! Well, without the wings. :-)
How wonderful of you to write all of this down. Grandmothers are so special.
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