One of Grandma Fann’s cold biscuits would be a tasty treat right now, just as it always was for my son entrusted to her and Grandpa Fann’s care during his formative years. Sometimes I enjoyed the snack, too, on the run as I headed to school. It was a bit of a guilt trip that I didn’t make biscuits from scratch as she did. Even grand canned biscuits don’t energize or soothe quite the way homemade ones do. Time hasn’t changed that. How exciting it must have been for kiddo as he grew big enough to climb into a kitchen chair to reach for one without help! All part of the greater plan, I imagine.

From time to time I did slow down enough to enjoy the invitation to sit at the table and have a biscuit, with bacon or sausage if I wanted. Those were times she would share kiddo’s escapades and milestones, made all the more precious because she knew how I yearned to hear of all I was missing. Sometimes I had a second biscuit with a bit of jelly or syrup as I listened to her wisdom and experience guide me much better through the journey of motherhood than did all those books I read from the ‘experts’ ahead of time.

Grandma Fann could have taught those experts a thing or two. Do they ever mention the need for a stack of clean washcloths handy at all times? Dry, wet, hot, cold or frozen, the washrag in her hands was a miraculous tool that could pacify at teething time, soothe a boo-boo after a nasty fall or swipe clean in a flash, removing dirt and crankiness simultaneously. I suspected she performed her magic each afternoon just seconds before my arrival. Even if there had not been time for a bath and a change of clothes – sometimes that would be an unnecessary interruption to a marvelous day – I was met with a smiling face, rosy cheeks shining from a fresh swipe of a wet cloth and hair a bit damp from a quick effort to tame the curls.

How blessed we are that our paths crossed! And how heavenly it is if she is looking after the little ones gone home to soon, watching over them till their mommas arrive.

Mildred Lucille Fann – 4/18/21 to 12/17/15 (Grandma Fann to all in our family)

This first appeared in the Prospect-News in Doniphan, MO on 01/13/16.