Ella Jane Free

This blog is dedicated to my Grandma Free, known as Ella Jane to non-Family.  Today is her birthday, though we lost her in 1989.  Due to  other's actions I didn't get to spend much time with her until my twenties but I sure tried to make up for it by taking vacations and weekends off to spend with this special lady.  We had many long one on one chats about her life, my life, and life in general.  She was not an educated woman but highly intelligent, wise and full of common sense.  She was well read, which made her more "worldly" than she may have been given credit for.  She had this unique ability to "read" people that I think I inherited from her. Grandma Free's number one  mission in life was her Family.  They took priority over EVERYTHING including her own wants & desires.  She spent her life sacrificing for her children and extended family.  What makes that stand out is she emphasised to me that would have it no other way.  No regrets! I'm not sure all of her family realized or appreciated that, but most did.  She never had the opportunity to get out of her small north Georgia community until I was able to bring her to my house near Atlanta and then to St. Augustine Florida to see the ocean for the first time.  She was in her 70s then.  We had a  GREAT time!  I have to say I could hardly keep up with her as she was used to walking everywhere.  That, combined with her excitement was  a tough challenge for me to keep pace with.  One of my favorite memories was waking up each morning at her house to the smell of an old fashioned southern breakfast.     could she cook you ask ?    LORD YES!   I have too many memories over those ten years to mention here but suffice it to say they were all great and forever etched in my mind.  She taught me a  LOT about life and being a "good person".  If I am ever half the person she was, I will be a really fine person.   Grandma Free, I miss you terribly and will ALWAYS love you!        HAPPY BIRTHDAY