My beloved maternal grandmother “Gammy” passed away on May 1, 2008. She was 88. This photo was taken on her backyard swing about 7 years ago. She loved that swing, the flowers in her yard and the animal statues that seemed to multiply at every visit. She sang to the birds and picked pecans. We talked a lot on that swing. And drank margaritas and played crazy eights. She loved games. Bingo on Friday nights was her favorite. She was a working mother in her day. She always had a joke, was a great story teller and loved to talk politics (Rep.), especially with Josh (Dem.). A newspaper reader and great fried chicken maker. Always there to feed you and drink you. Her greatest pleasure, I think. I could always count on mini milky ways in the freezer and double stuffed oreos in the bread box. She always had a little wad of money stuffed in her bosom to give me for “that something I couldn’t live without”. We crabbed together and beached together and spent Christmas Eve together. My childhood with her was simple and lovely and a beautiful memory now. Even in the last few years when she moved from her home in Crowley and I would see her less and less, (and she couldn’t see at all) I would still sit on the arm of her recliner, hold her hand and we would laugh. Our conversations always ended with her telling me how proud she was of me. She was a happy soul and a strong women. A lover of all things Mexican and a Gammy that gave me and my family the gift of hard work, good times, honor and grace. I will miss her and her lipstick smeared kiss. Little red bird in the tree, sing a song to me.