A Life Lived Well

My grandmother passed away this week.  A person who had been so instrumental in not only my life, but my entire family’s life.  Christian loved her dearly.  Reading through some of his texts to me I saw one that caught my attention about our grandmother.  Christian had been considering moving and I was attempting to convince him to move back home.  He reassured me he was not leaving town by stating “You don’t have to worry about me leaving.  As long as the ole’ lady is kickin’ I’m staying put.”  Christian would visit her between every hitch, make sure she had a “good birthday present, not something cheap” and loved to make her laugh.  They were partners in crime at times.  They probably didn’t know I knew she let him drive her car when he was 12 or 13 years old, chaffeuring her to the Dollar Store when she was the very young age of 93.  I would probably be scared to know what other secret outings they shared.

When I was asked to write MawMaw’s obituary a part of me wanted to say no because how could I possibly encapsulate the life she led for 103 years into a newspaper format or the acceptable word count someone had determined a person’s life could be described in?  But then again….how could I not write this last “assignment” she left for me?  So here is Louise Thompson’s obituary.  Not the condensed Reader’s Digest version that left so many nuances of who she was out, but the Old and New testament version of Evie Louise Miller Thompson better known to many of us as “MawMaw” or Mrs. Louise…

Louise Thompson’s life was an example of a life lived well. A life that did not let war, the Great Depression, the Industrial Revolution, or an ever evolving social climate change what was most important: church, family, and friends. She lived her life for those three priorities.  First following her father, a Southern Baptist preacher, from church to church all over the county as he pastored at multiple churches.  Later reminiscing with a smile that people sometimes thought she was “stuck up” because their family “had a buggy with a cover on it (as in horse drawn buggy) and only rich people could afford those”.  She would then add with a twinkle in her eye as if only she knew the secret “what they didn’t know was someone gave it to us so Daddy could get from one church to the other even if it was raining.”  There were stories of breaking up with a boyfriend to date “one of those Thompson boys…. you know they were all bootleggers except for your PaPa”.  I don’t know how true that was since Papa and I built a working whiskey still that landed me at the state science fair…… maybe it was just dumb luck…. or good genes.  🙂

And just as she followed her father from church to church, she later would follow her husband, children and grandchildren from gym to gym watching thousands of basketball games in her lifetime. Her love for basketball lasting until the sights and sounds of the game could no longer be heard or seen.  Reliving moments in her retelling of rivalry games between Vimville and Whynot, putting her two small children to sleep on pallets at the top of old bleachers as her husband refereed games, driving in a snow storm to take “Gerald Wayne and a bunch of boys to see a ballgame they thought they had to go to”, corn cob wars between “your Daddy and Betty Carol”, milking cows, churning butter and being the second family in the community to get a TV she would say with pride in her voice.  Without realizing it she described a home full of pride for her children, love for her husband and a heart big enough for the entire community.  She described the first few chapters of a life lived well.

She raised her children with a switch in one hand from the bushes in the back and a Bible in the other to take care of what the switches didn’t remedy.  Making sure the entire family was in church every Sunday and Wednesday and picking up a few kids in the community along the way.  And as much as she loved her family, she loved the Lord more.  Praying daily for her children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren to live a godly life.  Steadfast in her belief that God had a plan for every triumph and tragedy that occurred.  Grieving as one family member after another passed away but never doubting the plan.  Heartbroken as some passed away untimely…. but never questioning the plan.  Never faltering, never falling…. just living a life well.

 MawMaw loved basketball but she loved music more,  pouring her heart into the piano whenever she played. Many times you could stand outside her house and hear the strains of Amazing Grace or How Great Thou Art flowing from her fingers. She would say that was her therapy, her gift from God. It was a gift she gave freely as a pianist at Carmel Baptist Church and Hebron Baptist Church throughout her adult life. It was her way of giving back to God and the church for giving her so much.

And as children grew up and grandchildren and great-grandchildren were born, she was there to nurture, advise and love each and every one of them. She tutored those who struggled, challenging those who thrived and handing out her wisdom to all who would listen.  Oftentimes summoning a particular grandchild or great-grandchild to her home to “have a talk”.  Proud of all of their accomplishments but quick to point a finger at them and give them her opinion but ending every conversation or visit with “I love you”.  

It was 103 years in the making but I don’t think you could find a body of work that would instruct you any better on …… how to live a life well.

God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.

Billy Graham