A Logo of Love

If you were to meet my Nanny, I bet you would never forget her smile. If you were able to go into her house, you would have found comfort in her hospitality, her endless coffee, cappuccino, or soda, and her gumball machine. If you were able to receive a card from her, you would have gazed at her cursive handwriting. If you were lucky enough to be the kid at her house while she was making her famous white cake, you would have enjoyed your own regular size cereal bowl full of cake batter. Get ready, because here comes another bowl, full of the white cake icing this time. Hope you’re ready when you wake up because here comes an endless pile of Hungry Jack waffles topped with marshmallow cream, syrup, whipped topping and cherries on the top for breakfast.  And if you were to ask her to tell you her life story, you would have learned about Christ and his endless mercies.

My Nanny was my mom’s mom. The quintessential grandma, except better. Her name was Barbara Anne. My parents gifted me with her middle name for Bethany Anne. We had the exact same initials of B.A.R so that was fun growing up! She was a power house of an influence in my life. Her voice, demeanor, smile, laugh, and handwriting are things I’ll never forget. All of those attributes were beautiful. She was beautiful.  

During my college years, she was diagnosed with ALS. If you’ve ever walked along beside someone with this disease or have this disease yourself, you know all of those characteristics I listed above slowly disappear. It is a horrid disease where one’s perfectly functioning brain is trapped inside of their rapidly deteriorating body. She passed away 32 days before our wedding. Just 9 months following the official diagnosis.

Honestly, I still find myself mad at God for how her life ended at times. I battled Him for years. This woman, His servant, our grandma did not leave this world easily. But His plan is perfect and it is good.

I choose not to remember how she struggled to move, talk, eat, write etc. at the end of her life. I rarely think about those things and I attest that to the Holy Spirit. Instead, I can still hear her wonderful, pre-ALS voice. And look at her handwriting in the cards, letters and crafts I’ve saved. So, if you haven’t figured it out by now, that “B” in the logo is a “B” in her handwriting. As I’m writing this, I have noticed something. The words smile, comfort, hospitality, coffee, cappuccino, soda, cake, batter, icing, waffle (cones), marshmallow cream, syrup, whipped topping and cherries are all things you will find at Aunt B’s Ice Cream Shop. Full circle things are neat, huh?!

I hope you join my family and I on this journey. It is unfolding in some neat and unexpected ways. And we are learning SO MUCH. You can connect with us on Facebook here, and Instagram here. Hang tight, Twitter users! We’ll get an account set up soon!