>A Special Day – The Portis Family

Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 46:4

FAMILY….

there is so greater blessings. From the time I was born all I knew were three sets of grandparents. I was blessed to grow up with them all living within 15 minutes of each other and I got to spend a lot of time with each of them. I have so many wonderful and precious memories that I will always cherish…..pancakes for breakfast at Nanny and Pappy’s, sleaping in their RC Cola t-shirts, Pop and Mimi letting me win board games, fishing, playing in the yard waiting on the ice cream truck, riding the golf cart, grandmothers spaghetti, talking on the porch, naps on grandaddy’s belly, beach trips…..and many, many more. My children have all had the blessing of getting to spend time with their great grandparent and there is nothing that makes me happier. It has been hard watching as their health declines and their memories fade. I want to make more memories…

This week we had some relatives coming through on their way back from the beach and they made time to come for a visit at my parents house. Aunt Carolyn and her daughter Faye are two of my grandmothers favorite people in the whole world, she even calls Carolyn her “sister”. I took many trips to Augusta with grandmother to visit them as a child and it was always so evident to me how much they meant to each other and how close they were even when they didn’t get to see each other very often. When they arrived grandmother was not wanting to wake up. Carolyn lovingly sat beside her on the couch stroking her cheek and speaking in her ear, “it’s Carolyn, your sister, you promised me you would never forget me…” I cried as I watched them, sad that grandmother wasn’t able to enjoy her time with Carolyn as she had so many other times before, sad to realize grandmother probably doesn’t remember all the memories I cherish of our time together through the years, sad that I have to tell her every five minutes who I am and sad as I thought of how quickly out minds and bodies fail us…yet rejoicing as I thought of heaven and the restoration that will come when we join him.

Thank you mom for your hospitality and for the memories I will cherish from this special day. It ministered to me as I watched the way you and dad both so lovingly cared for grandmother and the servant hearts you both display on a daily basis! You are both such blessings in my life! I love you!