My Granddaughter,  My Lady Bug, Beautiful, Amazing, Loving

I have a granddaughter whom I love with all my heart.  She is beautiful, brilliant and loving.  I tell

Her all the time that if God had ask me to place an order for my first grandchild I couldn't have done a 

better job.

She is so amazing.  She was born with the the biggest blue eyes that you could imagine, a heart of gold, and just a sprinkle of sass.  She has the voice of an angel, has phenomenal grades, has starred in and directed as well as produced plays. She has been nothing but a blessing since the day she was born.  Her name is Victoria.  She has my heart.

 When she was a toddler, being the southern grandmother that I am, I taught her that she needed a floral printed ladies handkerchief that had been lightly sprayed with perfume in her purse, along with a clear lip-gloss and a bath and body mist just incase she forgot to perfume up before she left the  house.  I also let her know that pearls were a staple and were always a great choice.  (She had necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that were pearls.  I made sure she was prepared for life). 

The following is a bit more insight into her precious self:

She spent the night with me often and I used a Lavender Lotion from Bath & Body works that was called Sleepy Time.  She ask me one night, as we were getting ready for bed, what it was and I told her.  She asked me for some, and as I was rubbing some on her arms, her little eyes started opening and closing slowly like she was falling asleep standing up.  I suppose she thought it acted on you immediately.  It was the cutest thing ever and she asked me for it every night after for the longest time.

On another occasion, when she was spending the night, as she crawled into bed with me she said Mimi I want to tell you something.  I said sure baby, what is it?  She said a like this boy at school I said you do? She said yes. She followed that up with, I'm not going to kiss him though...I thought to myself praise God but I responded aloud with well that's good.  Think you might be a little young for that.  She said yeah and I only like him eighty eight, You've got to like them one hundred to kiss them. It was all I could do not to crack up.  She fell asleep and I immediately called her mother.  I said well there's about a twelve point differential between you and disaster over at the church.  (Victoria went to a Christian kindergarten).  She said what are  you talking about ? I told her and  she said oh Dear Lord.  I said exactly...Let us pray.

We had the most amazing tea parties with my Old Country Roses china, wearing tiara's, of course, and went for rides in my VW convertible, with the top down,  singing our favorites songs to the top of our lungs. We shopped till we dropped and spent so many nights together.  We had spa days and lunches and were always together.

My twin sister kept her, when her mother was at work, and when my sister would come to the door in the mornings she would say, loudly, "Where is she?", to which Victoria would inevitably reply "She's right here.", while standing proudly at the front door.  One morning, however, My sister came in the front door and asked the daily question, and Victoria replied, "She's in here, and she can't find her pearls." She was a hot mess.

Victoria also had a Little Tykes kitchen set in my kitchen, and when she would cook with her plastic food, she would be playing and cooking so sweetly and then, suddenly, without warning, she would started hurling the plastic food so hard it would literally round the corner and hit the front door.  My husband would look at me solemnly and say "Hell's Kitchen".  That baby was just obviously tired and needed a nap.

At one point her favorite movie was Chronicles of Narnia.  She was about 3  years old.  She decided to speak only using a British accent, and informed me that she wanted everyone else to speak in one as well or she may not hear us.  I mean Crack up!  So I began to the best of my ability to do as she wanted.  That same afternoon when her Pop Pop came in from work and he spoke to her he got no response.    After repeating himself at least 3 times he looked at me and said in an alarmed voice, "is there  something wrong with her hearting? I said she is not going to answer you unless you use an British accent.  He said what the heck???? I said just do it.  He gave it his best and she answered him  He went upstairs shaking his head.  It was a great moment.

I worked at a high school around the same time and I came home from work saying that I had to write a child up for misbehaving and Victoria ask me what that was and I explained it to her little self.  She immediately secured herself a tablet and a pen and anytime someone, most often her grandfather, would aggravate her she would take her pen and begin to "Write them down" as she called it.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I heard "Pop Pop I'm going to write you down"...it was hilarious.

Well...I blinked and that baby grew up.  She now attends an SEC university, is in a sorority, works, volunteers, and donates to the animal shelter in the county she goes to school in.  To say that she is busy is a complete understatement.   I am beyond proud of her.  I want to be the woman she already is.

When she was a Junior in high school I had a talk with her about college.  We were laying on my bed and she was saying how she knew I probably wanted her to go to college online and she laughed.  ( I am that person that wants my treasures right up under me).  I said I get why you think that, but I want you to go wherever your heart leads you.  Roots and wings.  I said your roots are here with me, but I would never want to be what holds you back from your dreams. I love you to much for that.  The next fall it was time to order her senior ring.  She came downstairs with the form and I said "Oh look, you have a quote on the inside. I have a quote book if you want to see it."  She said Mimi, I already have the quote. She said it's Roots and Wings...I cried buckets.

She went on to receive Invitations to colleges that were far to many to count across the nation, and even one from abroad. She even had an interview with Harvard,  but she chose one not to terribly far from home.  

 She came home last Summer.  I was thrilled and I praised God for the time with her.  She has kept me laughing, even when I don't think she meant to.  Examples:

Let me preface this by saying that she has a thing for tall guys.  As her freshman year was approaching I let her know that I had been praying for her to be in a nice, clean, safe dorm and for her to love it.  Fast forward and it's move in day.  As she and I were moving boxes into her dorm there were so many young men who were kindly holding the doors for us and being so polite.  When we had everything inside her dorm she look and me and said "Meems (a slang term, derived from Mimi)  all of the guys here are so tall.  I said "yes they are, and there are so many of them."  I got her all settled in and with a broken heart I left.  The next day I get a phone call from her and she was so excited!!  She said "Meems! I found out why the guys in my dorm are so freakishly tall...My dorm is with the basketball team!!!! Look at God!!"  I cracked up and then I said "Victoria that is not what I prayed for, but good for you!!".

Like I said she has been home this summer and one day she came flying down the steps and she said "I have an announcement!"  I said "okay, Let's hear it."  She said I'm going to live my life like a Kardashian.  I'm going to continue with Orange Theory, eat salads the size of my head, and take up tennis.  That is all."" I gave her my credit card and she headed out to Academy Sports for a couple of tennis skirts and again....Crack up.

She began a new job at a restaurant as a waitress.  She came home after the first night of training and announced (welled up with tears) that she wasn't going to be able to do it.  I asked her why and she said the trays are huge and they weigh a ton...all the while demonstrating with her right hand for effect.  When she was done with her spill, I said "Victoria, that is your right hand.  Are you carrying the tray with your right hand?  She said "That's the way they showed us in training.".  I said "Okay, is that a rule?  That you have to carry it in your right hand, I mean/".  She said "no, they didn't say that.". I said fantastic, because you are left handed. Now, why don't you try using your left hand tomorrow night? Just a thought."  Needless to say the next night went much better for her.  She makes great money there now and all is well.

She would have friends coming over and she would come downstairs, stopping midway, and announce " Prepare the Charcuterie!  The crew is coming!" (Jokingly of course, said because her friends were coming over.) She has her own get togethers at her house now for movies nights and such with her work friends, and her friends from college. She ordered a large balloon for one of  these events.  She sent me a picture of the package.  I said oh that is a lot of balloons and looks complicated.  You may have to get someone to hep you with that.  She replied with "Oh no, I'm not collaborative. I understood completely.  It reminded me how much I disliked group projects at school.  I was always the worker bee. 

Another, incident...she came  downstairs and announced that the coach of the Lacrosse team was very attractive.  She said "I'm going with my friend to his Lacrosse practice.  I have to learn what I can about the game.(Said friend being a frat boy that happens to play Lacrosse)".   Please let me add that this coach was very young. Her brother, being a typical 13 year old, then pipes up and says "You don't have a chance.", to which she replied "all coaches flirt with their students, so let's start there."   I'm sitting there listening and thinking Lord have mercy on a grandmother.

This same brilliant young women called me back during winter and announced that her car was broken, and that she couldn't get the door to open.  It was stuck, according to her.  I don't know a lot about vehicles, but I did have enough sense to let her know that her car was not indeed broken, but that it was 29 degrees outside and the door was frozen shut.  She was very relieved and I couldn't help but chuckle when I hung up the phone. 

 Spring came and she called to announce to me that she doesn't like "boom" weather.  I said "pray tell...what is boom weather?".  She said "You know Meems, it's storms, thunder and lightening."...God love her.  I told her I didn't care for boom weather myself, and hung the phone up thinking how cute she is, and seeing that three year old looking up at me wanting me to make everything alright.

As you can tell by now,  she is very entertaining, and she is fabulous, fearless, driven, respectful,  loves her brother and makes sure to spend  time with him, sends me texts every night to let me know that she is home for the night and each morning to say good morning and I love you so that I know she is okay.   It is my God given privilege to see her achieving one goal after the other.  To say that I am proud of her doesn't begin to touch the way I feel.  I take a moment everyday to thank God for her....I'm going to do that very thing here, publicly........Thank you God!!

  Victoria.......I love you beyond words.