I didn't feel like posting this with my other post on Michelle Obama - it just didn't feel appropriate.

On Thursday, 29 May, my grandmother died. It was my mom's mom, and being one of the closest grandchildren (one is two hours away, another lives in Tennessee, and yet another in Georgia), and owing to the fact that my mom was the de facto caregiver for the majority of the time (living only an hour away and retired), I saw her quite a bit. She lived long enough to see my wedding, and the birth of my two children, even if she was almost completely gone (mentally) when the second was born. After my parents divorced when I was two, my mom and I lived with her for about three years and commuted to the city every day. She was an amazing woman.

Rebecca Joyce Mattingly (nee Cook)

Born 22 August 1930 to Beckham & Janie Mae Cook; second of three daughters (Joanna & Murna). Married summer of 1948 to Billy McMurray (high school sweetheart). Gave birth to Larry Gean in October 1948, then Rebecca Jo in February of 1951, then Patricia Joyce (my mother) in July of 1952. In August of 1958, Billy died of leukemia (6 weeks from start to finish). Remarries Charles Mattingly in 1961, and gives birth to Michael Owen in August of 1963. Divorced in early 1970s. Worked at Crume Drug Store for the majority of time that I can remember, and had to retire when macular degeneration began the process of rendering her blind in the mid 1990s. Founding member of Parkway Baptist Church. Talented piano player. Immaculate dresser. Generous to a fault.

Wonderful grandmother, loving and kind.