Call me sentimental

I won't care. I think it is a good thing. It means you have a heart.

The times I am baking in the early morning is when my Grandma Mae (Nanny) comes to my mind. I always think of her, how she would do it and how she would like what I am making. One thing I remember making with Nanny is raisin bran muffins. Many mornings I would be at Nanny's house for breakfast. I would get up early with my dad and ride over to her house with him. Dad would be on his way to work and he would be picking up Poppy to ride with him. Me, I would go in to Nanny & Poppy's house and go upstairs to snuggle with Nanny for a little while before we would get up to have breakfast.

If you haven't guessed, I was very close to my Nanny. I don't know that many people are so lucky. Maybe it is different if you are a girl. Or if you are a first born, or if you just come from a very close loving family. Whatever the case is, I was very blessed to have the most wonderful grandmother. She was sweet, kind, loving and sometimes naive (or so we thought!). She loved to joke, she loved music. She had the most wonderful smile and she never judged me. Not even when I made some of the most stupid and wrong decisions in my life. Instead, she opened her arms (and her doors) and brought me in close. Her home was my home and her heart loved me unconditionally. That is how I want my family and friends to remember me.

If Nanny was still here, then this morning I would pack up some muffins and run down the road - pj's and all - to share them with her. It would certainly be something that would make her smile and say "come on in Shelby Mae."

The photo above is Nanny's recipe. She tore this from a Post Raisin Bran box herself. No matter that I love things neat and orderly - I will not change this card because it came from her house, her cereal box and her hands that tore it from there. Call me sentimental. I won't care.