When one thinks of the staple of Southern grandparents, they think of Granny of the Beverly Hillbillies or Grandpa Jones from Hee-haw. However, the true staple of Southern grandparents were my grandparents Tucker. They were bible believing/cake making grandparents. I still think of them often, especially when I look out my kitchen window and see the area where our garden was.

I want to say this first, I was lucky I had four sets of grandparents: one was Baptist, another was Pentecostal, another was Methodist, lastly another was Presbyterian. Guess who won? It was hard to just mention one set because they each gave me something that gave me a part of them, which made me the person I am today.

My Tucker grandparents were awesome. Living beside them all my life, I remember helping my grandfather every day in March to plant the garden. He would always make a row of squash and cucumbers for me to look after. In April we would sit out on his swing and listen to the Braves games. During summer time we would weed out the weeds in the garden and by early August we would pick vegetables for the family. I remember one Halloween I was staying with them because my dad was taking computer classes and my grandfather took me out trick and treating and we came back with four bags full of candy. My grandmother was upset. She said, "Roy, I told you not to take him everywhere." He smiled and said, "Beth, this one is for me and the rest are for him." Afterwards he took out the caramel ones and gave me the rest. Dec. 14, 1986 would be the day my grandfather died. It broke my little heart.

My grandmother had many names: Mrs. Tucker, Beth, Sarah, Aunt Beth, Mom. But to me she will always be Maw-Maw. My grandmother would raise us by Jesus loves us and read Bible stories to us.  She was a founding member of this church and loved missions and youth. Many memories have been forgotten due to my stroke, but one thing I remember is every Sunday she would have a fresh cake or pie on the kitchen table. Also, I remember coming home from summer camp to tell  her the news that I accepted Jesus as my savior.  She was so happy. July 18, 2011, she went home to be with her savior and see her husband Roy. 

They loved all her grandchildren, all 10 of us, me being the youngest. I felt closer to them and thought of them daily. My grandfather gave me the gift of being stubborn and a love of baseball. My grandmother gave me the gift of compassion and love of history. 

Thank you, Jesus, for the best grandparents anyone could hope for. That showed me love.

Happy grandparents day, Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw. I love and miss you both so much.

To all the grandparents, happy grandparents day.

Alex McKeel