The Mississippi Free Press awards board keeps swelling! As of July 2024, our team is up to 93 national and U.S. regional awards and finalist nods since we launched in late March 2020, plus a number of coveted awards from inside Mississippi. Here they are with links to specific work honored (see winners’ bios here). We will update this page from the top as more honors come in.
2024 Diamond Journalism Awards
The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held their annual Diamond Journalism Awards ceremony on July 24 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The regional competition rewards outstanding journalism from news outlets in Arkansas and six bordering states.
Votings-rights advocates and others in Jackson, Miss., listen to Hinds County election commissioners on Dec. 18, 2023, explain the mistakes that led to ballot shortages on Election Day 2023. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad
The Mississippi Free Press awards board keeps swelling! As of July 2024, our team is up to 91 national and U.S. regional awards and finalist nods since we launched in late March 2020, plus a number of coveted awards from inside Mississippi. Here they are with links to specific work honored (see winners’ bios here). We will update this page from the top as more honors come in.
2024 Diamond Journalism Awards
The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held their annual Diamond Journalism Awards ceremony on July 24 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The regional competition rewards outstanding journalism from news outlets in Arkansas and six bordering states.
Votings-rights advocates and others in Jackson, Miss., listen to Hinds County election commissioners on Dec. 18, 2023, explain the mistakes that led to ballot shortages on Election Day 2023. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad
The Mississippi Free Press awards board keeps swelling! As of July 2024, our team is up to 91 national and U.S. regional awards and finalist nods since we launched in late March 2020, plus a number of coveted awards from inside Mississippi. Here they are with links to specific work honored (see winners’ bios here). We will update this page from the top as more honors come in.
2024 Diamond Journalism Awards
The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held their annual Diamond Journalism Awards ceremony on July 24 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The regional competition rewards outstanding journalism from news outlets in Arkansas and six bordering states.
Votings-rights advocates and others in Jackson, Miss., listen to Hinds County election commissioners on Dec. 18, 2023, explain the mistakes that led to ballot shortages on Election Day 2023. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad
The Mississippi Free Press awards board keeps swelling! As of July 2024, our team is up to 93 national and U.S. regional awards and finalist nods since we launched in late March 2020, plus a number of coveted awards from inside Mississippi. Here they are with links to specific work honored (see winners’ bios here). We will update this page from the top as more honors come in.
2024 Diamond Journalism Awards
The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held their annual Diamond Journalism Awards ceremony on July 24 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The regional competition rewards outstanding journalism from news outlets in Arkansas and six bordering states.
Votings-rights advocates and others in Jackson, Miss., listen to Hinds County election commissioners on Dec. 18, 2023, explain the mistakes that led to ballot shortages on Election Day 2023. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad
Commissioner Mike Chaney says increases are mostly due to inflation and the rising cost to replace a home if substantial damage occurs.
Many homeowners in Mississippi have seen increases in their insurance rates recently, but the reasons are not as simple as some may assume.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney (R) said the increases are mostly due to inflation and the rising cost to replace a home if substantial damage occurs. However, this year his office did approve a roughly 16 percent increase for those that operate under his umbrella, which includes admitted companies.
Chaney explained that admitted companies are controlled to a limited degree by the Mississippi Insurance Department, while non-admitted and surplus line companies can set any rate they wish. He added that the number of non-admitted companies writing policies for businesses in Mississippi increased after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
What may surprise most Mississippi residents it that the highest rate increases are being seen in areas that are not along the Gulf Coast.
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney
“The largest increases are occurring above the lower six counties and most of them are occurring in the areas where you have hail damage by zones,” Chaney described.
That area includes the areas north of Hattiesburg and across central Mississippi through Jackson and up to Madison over to Meridian, among other areas.
For those policies with surplus lines, at least a 3 percent fee is collected that is provided to the state’s wind pool.
“Most of those fees are sent to the wind pool to keep rates artificially low on the Gulf Coast,” Chaney said.
The fees and taxes collected last fiscal year totaled about $30 million, of which about $23 million was provided to the Mississippi Wind Pool. Another portion is used to help bring fire insurance rates down by providing equipment and trucks to fire departments, a move that lowers an area’s fire rating and subsequently insurance rates, Chaney said.
Whatever is not used to cover losses or purchase re-insurance is put into a surplus account. Commissioner Chaney said that account totals about $400 million at present. The idea is to have enough to cover a third of the insurance companies’ probable maximum losses for a one in 50-year storm.
Due to the previously mentioned surplus lines fee, Chaney said about 60 percent of the fees paid into the wind pool come from outside of the Gulf Coast.
“The bottom line is the Gulf Coast has been subsidized since 2008 by residents of the northern part of the state that pay surplus lines and fees,” Chaney elaborated.
At some point the subsidization needs to end, Chaney believes, but he said that is up to the Legislature.
Admitted companies under the Mississippi Insurance Department have not been granted a major rate increase since 2008, but three years ago Chaney’s office allowed for a 3 percent increase in zones A and B as well as a decrease in zones C and D along the six coastal counties, effectively equating to a flat rate across the area.
This past year another rate increase was approved as an inflation guard. Commissioner Chaney said the insurance companies asked for a 50 percent increase for businesses and a 33 percent increase for homeowners, but he approved an average of a 16 percent increase, which people would have noticed over the past 24 months.
Chaney added that it was the first increase he has approved since he took office in 2008, not counting the increases that occurred for the cost to replace a home. However, there have been larger increases from companies the Mississippi Insurance Department does not control.
“This is important to understand because you always hear, ‘Rates have gone out of sight on the coast,’” Chaney said. “They have if you have been buying from surplus lines, but that is the agent’s job, who you buy your insurance from. They need to put you in the wind pool instead of into a surplus lines company.”
As such, Chaney’s office suggests shopping around and considering a higher deductible to help lower the cost of home insurance.
Other suggestions include making improvements to the home, including the installation of hurricane straps from the roof to the walls, hurricane shutters, and even building homes at a higher elevation. According to a recent release from Chaney’s office, state law mandates insurance companies provide discounts to homeowners who make mitigation efforts that meet the standards under the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
To help bring rates down, Chaney said his office has been trying to implement a mitigation program that could help homeowners get those discounts. The Commissioner pointed to the Legislature providing about $5 million for the Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program during this year’s legislative session. The grant-based program is expected to start in August of this year but is limited to the six coastal counties, Chaney added. For more information on that program, visit here.
Other ways to reduce insurance costs is to bundle home and automobile insurance policies with the same insurance company.
“However, you should make sure that the premiums with the discount do not total more than if you bought policies from different companies,” the Insurance Department cautions.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The chief executive officer of a biotech company with ties to the largest public corruption case in Mississippi history pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of wire fraud for improperly using welfare funds intended to develop a concussion drug.
Jacob VanLandingham entered the plea at a hearing in Jackson before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves, court records show. A sentencing date was not immediately set. Possible penalties include up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A lawsuit the state Department of Human Services filed alleges that $2.1 million of welfare money paid for stock in VanLandingham’s Florida-based companies, Prevacus and PreSolMD; for Nancy Ne; and her son, Zachary New, who ran nonprofit groups that received welfare money from Human Services.
Prosecutors said the Mississippi Community Education Center, which was run by the News, provided about $1.9 million, including federal money from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, to Prevacus. The money was purportedly for the development of a pharmaceutical concussion treatment. But, prosecutors said in a bill of information that VanLandingham misused “a substantial amount of these funds for his personal benefit, including, but not limited to, gambling and paying off personal debts,” the bill read.
Former NFL star Brett Favre is named in the Human Services lawsuit as the “largest individual outside investor” of Prevacus. Favre, who has not been charged with wrongdoing, has said he put $1 million of his own money into VanLandingham’s companies, which were developing a nasal spray to treat concussions and a cream to prevent or limit them.
Nancy New and Zachary New previously pleaded guilty to state charges of misusing welfare money, including on lavish gifts such as first-class airfare for Davis. Nancy New, Zachary New and Davis all agreed to testify against others.
Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Davis to lead Human Services. Davis pleaded guilty to state and federal felony charges in a conspiracy
President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable discussion on the First Step Act, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, in Gulfport, Miss. at left is Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon – Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
The junior Mississippi U.S. Senator is said to be on the radar for a possible Trump Cabinet pick should the former President win re-election in November.
Former President Donald Trump is likely to draw from Republican allies currently serving in Congress to fill Cabinet positions should he win back the White House in November. Mississippi’s junior U.S. Senator is said to be among those in consideration.
According to sources in attendance at the recent Republican National Convention, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s name is being floated as a possible Trump pick for Secretary of Agriculture. She has been a strong supporter of the former President and is said to have a good relationship with Trump.
“Given her background, she would make a great Secretary of Agriculture and it would be good to have a Mississippian in that position,” a source within the Republican Party told Magnolia Tribune on the condition of anonymity. “President Trump likes her a lot and if Cindy wants it, he would surely entertain the idea.”
The former President has actively campaigned for and endorsed Hyde-Smith in her past elections.
President Donald Trump campaigns with Cindy Hyde-Smith in October 2018.
Whether or not Hyde-Smith would take the appointment if asked is unknown. Should Republicans win the majority in the Senate come November, Hyde-Smith would be in line for key committee assignments, adding to her influence in the chamber. But as sources noted, “Trump is hard to turn down.”
Adding to the political math is the fact the Hyde-Smith is up for re-election in 2026.
If Hyde-Smith were to be appointed as Trump’s Agriculture Secretary, she would be only the second female to hold the office. The first was Ann Veneman from California appointed by former President George W. Bush.
During his first term, Trump appointed former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture. Perdue, who was only the second Ag Secretary from the “Deep South,” served throughout the former President’s term.
The other former Secretary of Agriculture from the South was Mike Espy, a former Mississippi Congressman who served in the position under President Bill Clinton in the early 1990s. Notably, Hyde-Smith defeated Espy twice in U.S. Senate elections in 2018 and 2020.
What Makes Hyde-Smith a Natural Fit as Ag Secretary?
Hyde-Smith, 65, comes from a fifth-generation farming family that raises beef cattle and are partners in a local stockyard auction market. She served as Mississippi’s Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner for nearly two terms before being appointed by former Governor Phil Bryant (R) to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by former Senator Thad Cochran who stepped down in 2018.
Hyde-Smith served in the Mississippi Senate for three terms, running and winning as a Democrat in 1999, 2003, and 2007. She switched to the Republican Party in 2010, citing her conservative values as being pro-life, pro-family, pro-business and pro-Second Amendment.
During her tenure in the Mississippi Legislature, Hyde-Smith chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee for eight years and was intricately involved in pro-tort reform, pro-business, anti-abortion and anti-eminent domain legislation.
She ran for Agriculture Commissioner in 2011 as a Republican, winning the race to become the first female to hold the office in state history. Under her leadership, the department was recognized as a “model agency” for effectiveness and budget control.
Hyde-Smith went on to win re-election in 2015, and three years later was appointed to the U.S. Senate, again making state history as the first female to hold a federal office from Mississippi.
(Photo from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith on Facebook)
Hyde-Smith won the 2018 special election to fill the unexpired U.S. Senate term, defeating former Agricultural Secretary Espy, a Democrat, in a runoff election by nearly 8 points. Hyde-Smith then won a full six-year term in 2020, again defeating Espy by 10 points.
Since being elected to the U.S. Senate, Hyde-Smith has served on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Committee on Rules and Administration. She currently chairs the Senate’s Pro-Life Caucus.
The first bill Hyde-Smith introduced as a Senator in 2018 was the Migratory Bird Framework and Hunting Opportunities for Veterans Act to extend duck season to January 31 and establish a special weekend for youth, veterans, and active military. It became law in March 2019.
Hyde-Smith played a key role in crafting and passing the 2018 Farm Bill and is again helping develop the next Farm Bill. She is also involved in legislation to support rural healthcare, agriculture producers, food banks, and small businesses.
Other Senators Mentioned as Possible Trump Cabinet Picks
Hyde-Smith joins other fellow Republican U.S. Senators being mentioned as possible Trump Cabinet picks including Tennesse Senator Bill Hagerty, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Senator Eric Schmitt.
Cindy Hyde-Smith’s family joins President Donald Trump at a campaign event in 2018.
According to a report from The Hill, Hagerty could be a possible pick for Treasury Secretary or Secretary of State, while Rubio is seen as a possible head of the CIA, Director of National Intelligence, or Secretary of State.
Cotton is viewed as a strong option for Secretary of Defense, with Tuberville could be a possibility for Secretary of Education.
Scott is mentioned as an option for Health and Human Services or Housing and Urban Development Secretary, and Schmitt is said to be a possible Attorney General pick.
This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable discussion on the First Step Act, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, in Gulfport, Miss. at left is Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon – Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
The junior Mississippi U.S. Senator is said to be on the radar for a possible Trump Cabinet pick should the former President win re-election in November.
Former President Donald Trump is likely to draw from Republican allies currently serving in Congress to fill Cabinet positions should he win back the White House in November. Mississippi’s junior U.S. Senator is said to be among those in consideration.
According to sources in attendance at the recent Republican National Convention, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s name is being floated as a possible Trump pick for Secretary of Agriculture. She has been a strong supporter of the former President and is said to have a good relationship with Trump.
“Given her background, she would make a great Secretary of Agriculture and it would be good to have a Mississippian in that position,” a source within the Republican Party told Magnolia Tribune on the condition of anonymity. “President Trump likes her a lot and if Cindy wants it, he would surely entertain the idea.”
The former President has actively campaigned for and endorsed Hyde-Smith in her past elections.
President Donald Trump campaigns with Cindy Hyde-Smith in October 2018.
Whether or not Hyde-Smith would take the appointment if asked is unknown. Should Republicans win the majority in the Senate come November, Hyde-Smith would be in line for key committee assignments, adding to her influence in the chamber. But as sources noted, “Trump is hard to turn down.”
Adding to the political math is the fact the Hyde-Smith is up for re-election in 2026.
If Hyde-Smith were to be appointed as Trump’s Agriculture Secretary, she would be only the second female to hold the office. The first was Ann Veneman from California appointed by former President George W. Bush.
During his first term, Trump appointed former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture. Perdue, who was only the second Ag Secretary from the “Deep South,” served throughout the former President’s term.
The other former Secretary of Agriculture from the South was Mike Espy, a former Mississippi Congressman who served in the position under President Bill Clinton in the early 1990s. Notably, Hyde-Smith defeated Espy twice in U.S. Senate elections in 2018 and 2020.
What Makes Hyde-Smith a Natural Fit as Ag Secretary?
Hyde-Smith, 65, comes from a fifth-generation farming family that raises beef cattle and are partners in a local stockyard auction market. She served as Mississippi’s Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner for nearly two terms before being appointed by former Governor Phil Bryant (R) to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by former Senator Thad Cochran who stepped down in 2018.
Hyde-Smith served in the Mississippi Senate for three terms, running and winning as a Democrat in 1999, 2003, and 2007. She switched to the Republican Party in 2010, citing her conservative values as being pro-life, pro-family, pro-business and pro-Second Amendment.
During her tenure in the Mississippi Legislature, Hyde-Smith chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee for eight years and was intricately involved in pro-tort reform, pro-business, anti-abortion and anti-eminent domain legislation.
She ran for Agriculture Commissioner in 2011 as a Republican, winning the race to become the first female to hold the office in state history. Under her leadership, the department was recognized as a “model agency” for effectiveness and budget control.
Hyde-Smith went on to win re-election in 2015, and three years later was appointed to the U.S. Senate, again making state history as the first female to hold a federal office from Mississippi.
(Photo from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith on Facebook)
Hyde-Smith won the 2018 special election to fill the unexpired U.S. Senate term, defeating former Agricultural Secretary Espy, a Democrat, in a runoff election by nearly 8 points. Hyde-Smith then won a full six-year term in 2020, again defeating Espy by 10 points.
Since being elected to the U.S. Senate, Hyde-Smith has served on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Committee on Rules and Administration. She currently chairs the Senate’s Pro-Life Caucus.
The first bill Hyde-Smith introduced as a Senator in 2018 was the Migratory Bird Framework and Hunting Opportunities for Veterans Act to extend duck season to January 31 and establish a special weekend for youth, veterans, and active military. It became law in March 2019.
Hyde-Smith played a key role in crafting and passing the 2018 Farm Bill and is again helping develop the next Farm Bill. She is also involved in legislation to support rural healthcare, agriculture producers, food banks, and small businesses.
Other Senators Mentioned as Possible Trump Cabinet Picks
Hyde-Smith joins other fellow Republican U.S. Senators being mentioned as possible Trump Cabinet picks including Tennesse Senator Bill Hagerty, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Senator Eric Schmitt.
Cindy Hyde-Smith’s family joins President Donald Trump at a campaign event in 2018.
According to a report from The Hill, Hagerty could be a possible pick for Treasury Secretary or Secretary of State, while Rubio is seen as a possible head of the CIA, Director of National Intelligence, or Secretary of State.
Cotton is viewed as a strong option for Secretary of Defense, with Tuberville could be a possibility for Secretary of Education.
Scott is mentioned as an option for Health and Human Services or Housing and Urban Development Secretary, and Schmitt is said to be a possible Attorney General pick.
This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is beginning to vet about a dozen possible candidates to be her running mate, according to two people familiar with the matter, as she approaches one of the most consequential decisions of her new presidential candidacy.
Harris launched her campaign Sunday after President Joe Biden bowed to pressure from his own party to step aside, leaving a historically compressed timeline for her to make a selection before next month’s Democratic National Convention. Her party could make her its nominee as soon as Aug. 1 in a virtual vote, and could formalize the nomination of her running mate soon after.
Harris’ goal, according to people with knowledge of the matter, is to keep the process drama-free, as she and Democrats try to project confidence after an extraordinarily tumultuous few weeks for the party.
While much of the political conversation has centered on four names — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper — Harris’ team has requested information from about a dozen officials, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential process.
The broader list includes Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. At least one of those being vetted is not currently in government.
Initial requests for information went out Tuesday, one of the people said.
Shapiro, who on Tuesday said he had not received any requests for vetting material, was less categorical Wednesday. He referred questions about the process to Harris’ campaign team.
Eric Holder, the former U.S. attorney general, and a team of lawyers at his firm Covington & Burling are taking the lead on vetting potential choices. Typically, those under consideration are asked to turn over financial records and records of past political stances and speeches, and they are asked to submit to interviews with lawyers to identify potential red flags.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung was asked by reporters during a rally on Wednesday whether the former
Outdoor columnist Ben Smith pays homage to his grandmother, reflecting on his fondest memories of childhood.
It feels like I’ve written a lot of “tribute” articles over the last couple of years. I know for certain that I’ve written more this year than I wanted to. But this is a column dedicated to my life in the outdoors, and it wouldn’t be completely transparent should I choose not to pay homage to those that provided me with the opportunities that I’ve been afforded. For those of you who have followed along with our family over the last several years, I thank you for being on this journey with us. I’m still humbled and at a loss for words when someone walks up and tells me that they read this each week. This week’s installment is another chapter of sadness and reflection in my book of life. My last remaining grandparent has passed on from this earthly dwelling into her eternal life. This is for her.
I hopped up on the four wheeler and Grandma climbed on behind me. At five years old, my legs weren’t quite long enough to reach the foot shifter to change gears. Plus, the four wheeler was pretty new, so Grandaddy probably didn’t want me driving it anyway. Grandma fired it up and we took it for a spin around the edge of the cotton field. It had rained that morning, so the edges of the field were pretty muddy. The Honda Four-Trax dug right through the mud slinging it up behind us as we plowed along. As we laughed our way around the field, we had no idea that Grandaddy was watching from the yard. When we returned, he wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about his four-wheeler being so muddy as we were.
My fondest memories of childhood mostly revolve around the time that I spend with my grandparents. We moved several times when I was a kid, so I often referred to Grandma and Grandaddy’s house as home, even though it was always several hours away from where we were living. I called it home because that’s what it felt like. It was consistent, it was cozy, and it was there that I felt most comfortable. Located in the middle of nowhere in south Alabama with no friends around, you’d think that a young boy would lose his mind. I was just the opposite. I never felt more peace than when I was at their house.
Each summer I’d get a couple of weeks to go spend with them before school started back. These were the best weeks of the entire summer. There was so much to do, and so many things to learn. Not to mention, the food was unbelievable. My mother was a good cook when I was growing up, but I haven’t found a soul on this Earth that could outdo Grandma in the kitchen. I think the reason that I don’t eat breakfast now is because everything is such a letdown compared to hers. I loved waking up in the morning with the smell of sausage coming down the hallway to my bedroom. I’d roll out of bed and my nose would drag me to the dining room where I would be met with a feast fit for a king. Sausage, eggs, bacon, and grits. Grandma always said I needed the grits because a growing boy needed something to stick to his backbone. But my absolute favorite thing in the mornings were her biscuits. I’d stuff them with homemade Mayhaw jelly and eat my weight’s worth.
Grandma was never a schoolteacher, but she was a teacher. I learned more life skills at that house during the summer than I could have learned in a hundred years in a classroom. They always had a big garden and they made sure I understood how to tend to one. I learned how to shuck corn, shell peas, and how to check if a watermelon was ripe. Simple things, but to a hungry growing boy, important things. My Grandaddy taught me how to tie my shoes when I was four years old, but Grandma was the one that wouldn’t let me quit when I got frustrated. I also learned what a switch was from Grandma. I don’t know what type of bush that was in the backyard, but I know the limbs were the perfect stiffness to bend just a little but never break. Fortunately for me it got to the point where she could just glare at me and say, “Do you see my eyes?” and that was enough to make me behave.
Grandma always seemed to have the right medicine for every ailment growing up, too. She didn’t have a drug store, but might as well have been an honorary pharmacist. Best I can remember, there was only one thing that I ever had while there that she didn’t make better. I’ll never forget waking up one morning with red dots all over me. I had a fever, was throwing up, and a rash Benadryl couldn’t handle. I’d gotten chicken pox. I’ll never forget her dabbing my forehead with a damp, cool rag. She softly sang while she held me in her arms, something I later found that she did when she was upset.
For most of my life it seemed like Grandma was always taking care of someone. I remember her taking care of several aunts through the years, then watched her care for both of her parents that lived next door. She was the glue that kept everyone together. To me, she was a superhero. The hardest thing that I’ve ever watched still to this day was her caring for my grandfather during his final days. I was amazed at how she could hold it together through such a time. As he drew his final breaths, I heard a familiar sound. Grandma was softly singing, just like she did when I was sick.
After Grandaddy passed, the years rolled along, and Grandma got older as grandmas do. I went to college and started a family. Our visits together got shorter with life’s demands getting in the way. When we’d visit I’d watch from a distance as she hugged on my kids, my heart so full it could burst. Over the last year or so, Grandma had trouble remembering things at times. Talking with her, you could tell that she knew. Just before I left her house for the last time she hugged my neck, grabbed my face with both hands, stared deep into my eyes, and said something to me that I will always remember. She said, “I love you, and I will never forget you.”
The morning after Grandma passed I got ready for work as I do each day. As I was walking out the door, I turned back. Remember, I don’t usually eat breakfast, but for some reason I was hungry. I opened the pantry, grabbed a granola bar, and headed for the door. Once again, I stopped. I looked down and tossed the granola bar back on the counter. It sure as heck ain’t biscuits and Mayhaw jelly.
