Stella 02-29-1920

Today would be my paternal grandmother's 22nd birthday and 88th year on earth. Stella Ardis Johnson passed away back in 1997 while taking a nap in her bed at home. To me, she was one of the sweetest women who ever lived. She was a hard working farm girl who loved family, God and the farm. Memories of her always come to mind first with smells of cooking or wintermint and the sound of her humming some old baptist hymn. She was constantly humming while she cleaned and cooked. She was an expert gardener who learned by toil and trial. She also had the warmest laugh and smile that so easily made you feel at home. She was proud but not full of pride, strong but crippled with arthritis and diabetes, but rarely complained. She raised 6 children, 3 of which were stricken with polio at an early age, and lived to see many grandchildren born, including me.

I spent many summer weeks and school weekends with my grandparents including the entire summer between my 7th and 8th grade school years. That summer she and I read the Bible almost every night before going to bed. I can remember the old country AM radio playing softly from their bedroom as the night quieted. They always got up before me and had breakfast ready before I even realized the day was beginning. Stella wasn't afraid of work and that summer she carried more than 1 bucket of okra or butter beans up and down the rows in the sweltering heat of a South Carolina summer. It was hard work but it was one of the best summers ever for me. She and Grand Daddy showed me a little about hard work and a lot about life.

Happy Birthday Grand Momma!