Lancaster, SC

The first time I ever went to Jonathan's grandparents' house in Lancaster, SC was after Jonathan sang in the All-State chorus in Rock Hill. I drove down with his parents, watched him perform then drove over to Lancaster to stay the night. I stayed upstairs in his mom's old room which was just.the.same. as it was when she lived there in high school. It even had high school Gerald (his parents were high school sweethearts) in a frame on the dresser. Jonathan (6'4") and Jordan (6'3") shared the sofa bed in the den.

Sometime in the 6am hour, Jonathan and Jordan were awakened by a lady banging on the door of the house. She politely informed them that the shed about 30 feet from the house was ablaze. Lightening had struck the shed during a storm and it was up in flames.

Jonathan came upstairs, woke me up and told me that the shed was on fire. I thought this was his idea of a cruel joke and tried to go back to sleep. He finally convinced me he was telling the truth and we ran downstairs where the caveman instinct kicked in and all the men ran out to FIGHT the FIRE....with one garden hose. They decided to concentrate their efforts on the gas tank sitting beside the shed.

So Jonathan's grandmother- all 92 pounds of her- and me in my pajamas stood in the doorway and listened as every one of her canned green bean jars popped from the pressure. The fire department came roaring up but the shed was a total loss.

For years, his grandparents invited me to come visit but politely requested that I leave the fire at home.

Tomorrow we are going to Lancaster and for the first time, Jonathan's teeny tiny sweet grandmother won't be there. She went to be with Jesus on Sunday and while we are grateful that she is no longer ill, we are missing her terribly down here on earth. We'll miss her caramel cake and sweet tea. We'll miss her asking to serve us another helping of ...well anything...and everything. She was the tiniest person I knew but yet I couldn't stand up to her and tell her to stop putting food on my plate. She loved watching Kiran run around with an energy that she possessed a lifetime or two ago. We knew she was proud of us and we were proud of her. We look forward to honoring her...with a ceremony yes....but also with our lives. We are blessed to have a wonderful heritage to pass on to our girls. We'll never eat caramel cake (Jonathan's favorite) without thinking of you Grandmom Helms. You set a high standard for us and it beckons us to have more of the quiet and gentle spirit that defined your life. We love you. We miss you. Rest easy now.