One Century of Life

We have been on a whirlwind trip for the past week, and I will write more about it later, but today we had a very special afternoon visiting Stan's grandmother and I wanted to share a couple of pictures.

Stan's grandmother, affectionately known by her family as "Banmama" is 102 years old. She was born in 1907. It is hard for me to fathom the changes she has witnessed in the world. She has seen the advent of automobiles, televisions, and computers. The things we take for granted like cell phones, ipods, and the Internet are things she probably never even daydreamed about. She grew up on a farm in rural Alabama, number thirteen of fifteen children. During the Great Depression she says that they never went hungry and always had food to share with the many travelers who passed their way.

Banmama and her husband, Bandaddy, raised their four children in a small town in North Alabama. Three of the four still live in the area and have raised their children there. They are now great-grandparents themselves. The youngest of the four children is my mother in law and she lives in a nearby city. I am blessed to be married to her son and together we are raising four more of Banmama's great-grandchildren. I'm not sure how many there are, but with two weddings this summer, her family is growing steadily.

Now, at 102 years old, she is really in good physical health. Her mind wanders a bit sometimes and she reminisces a lot. When we talked with her today, her Daddy, Luke Harrison came into the conversation quite a bit and once she asked me if I remembered how to bale cotton! Of course, I have never baled cotton in my life and she seemed completely shocked at the thought, but otherwise, she was totally coherent, and I enjoyed our conversation so much.

Scripture tells us that there is great wisdom to be gained with age, and I know that Banmama has been blessed in her century of life. She has loved her family well.

She is a devout Christian and she used to tell everyone that we named our youngest son Graham after her hero of the faith, Billy Graham. Actually, my great-grandfather's name was Graham, but that's ok, I certainly admire Reverend Graham as well, so I don't bother to tell her any different.

We don't get to visit with Banmama very often and each time we say good-bye I know that it could be the last time we see her here on earth. I always enjoy our conversations and since I am such a history buff, I love asking questions about the way life is different now than when she was a little girl and young woman. Two world wars, the Depression, the changes in technology and industry are just a few of the things that she has watched evolve over the past one hundred years. It blows me away just to think about it.

We had a great visit today, and I just have to say that I hope that if I live to see my 100th birthday, I hope that I look just like her.