Jennifer Sadenwater
I realize the fortunate blessing of having my grandfather with me into my adult years, and that my children are old enough to remember their great-grandfather. Having spent many, many weekends at Maw Maw and Paw Paw’s house, I am thankful to have countless memories – playing kitchen in the garage (and using samples from his tubs of bird seed and laundry detergent to “cook”), watching him eat watermelon after cutting the grass, playing with the cool water mister in Maw Maw’s green house, Paw Paw cooking BBQ shrimp with lots of butter, making bananas foster, cooking lots of deer meat, heavenly hash, laying in the rope hammock, so many tools in his garage, Thursday visits after school, playing office at the desk he made, eating out at Wei Wei, staying up late to watch Golden Girls & Maude, sleeping in the front room, his candy dish of starlight mints, Mackie, hearing him say “hey shug” each time I called, always asking what I was making for dinner and what the price of shrimp was in Texas….the list could go on and on. I will miss talking to him about his hummingbirds and the blooming landscape. Each morning when the birds start to chirp, I am reminded of his voice saying “the birds, the birds…. listen to those birds!” I hear them Paw Paw, and they are singing for you.