Return to the South

On Saturday, my grandmother of 83 years passed away. So, Sunday, I traveled back to Tennessee to attend the funeral. The funeral was to be held in Elberton, Georgia, the place my grandparents had lived for so many years. As a child, we would always travel to this very small southern town to visit them.

My grandmother had an annurism in her brain that pretty much killed her. She had already baked a cake that day and delivered to friends, and already engaged for the night for her game of Bridge. I’m very envious of being so involved as she was, and really not knowing what hit you. Because of this, the funeral became less solemn, but more a celebration of who she was and what an amazingly long, healthy life she lead.

Retruning to the South, not just Chattanooga (as that’s not as Southern as Elberton), was very interesting. There were so many things I saw that made me either chuckle, or realize what a different region of the country this is. After living in one of the best cities for dining, coming to the few choices that are available down there was tiring. I did see some funny signs: On a Taco Bell Sign, below the burrito special, it said : God is Good. Another sign said: TGIF : Thank God I’m Forgiven. But the funniest: Dogs and Cats can’t add or subtract, but they can multiply! Have your cats/dogs spayed or neutered. An Ingle’s Grocery store had a big, ‘American Owned’ on the front of the store. Too funny.

After the funeral, another thing that was quite touching to see, was the courtesy of EVERY car we passed during the procession. There was not one car that didn’t stop, nor one policeman that didnt’ have his hat off, and hand crossing his heart. It was truly memorable.

So, all in all, though my travel was long, it was great to partake in the celebration of all that was my grandmother, and I was so happy that I had come home for Thanksgiving, to see her one last time. I can only hope I’ll be so lucky to live a long, healthy life as she did.