Hence, the name

April 8, 2013

So you ask “Where did the name Granny Girl come from?”  Glad you asked.

When I was a little girl, my grandparents would sometimes take me traveling with them to see Aunt Liddy (really Lydia, but we called her Liddy) in Oklahoma.  She was my grandmother’s sister, and just as short and round as my grandmother.  She was a funny old lady, who never put anything away in the same place twice.  Her little house was a treasure trove of clutter.  She was very emotionally invested in her soap operas, and in the small town dramas she could see (and comment on) from her front porch chair.  I just loved Aunt Liddy!

Aunt Liddy had grandkids, or they may have been great grandkids, nearby. We would drive out to have supper at her daughter Leema Glenn’s house, and those kids would run up and hug Aunt Liddy and call her Granny Girl.  I went home and told my parents that when I became a grandmother, I wanted to be called Granny Girl.

Flash forward many years.  At the age of 43, I became a grandmother.  I had very mixed emotions, because the baby was my oldest son’s, born just 3 days after his single daddy turned 20.  The mom stepped out of the picture, so my boy brought his newborn home for Mama to help him raise.  I still had all four of my kids at home and was working full-time.   I loved the baby more than life itself, but I didn’t know if I had the strength and stamina needed to raise another child.  

When my parents came to see us and meet their first great grandbaby, they walked in the door and said “Hello, Granny Girl!”  Hearing those words, and remembering the joy that passed between Aunt Liddy and her grandkids when they hugged her and called her Granny Girl helped me turn a corner in my attitude.  I decided to go toward the joy, and lean away from the feelings of being overwhelmed and exhausted.

That sweet baby has grown into a big, burly 12 year old boy.  He’s musical, smart, athletic, handsome, sweet and helpful.  And he calls me Granny Girl!  (Unless we’re in public, and then its “Grandmother.”  He is 12, you know.)