Happy Birthday Annah Lee

On Monday January 10, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Cloudy-Cool. Mary feeling very badly. I went by to tell Mrs. Raines about Mary. Got to work at 8:15 a.m. Went to Dr. Burks' office at 10:15 a.m. Mrs. Muire called me on phone. Annah Lee born at 11:55 a.m. Dr. Burks in attendance. I came home at 12:15 p.m. Norman is 11 mo. and 1 day old today. Stayed at Mrs. Raines at night. So, today is my grandmother's birthday, she would have been 94 years old today. I called her Granny. I do miss her, but I know that she is in heaven and I have lots of fond memories. In fact, when talking about family and faith, Granny would be one of the first ones to come to mind. Her faith was very important to her and she lived it out. She prayed for the salvation of family members and others often. She was a church pianist, Sunday School teacher and well, that list could go on a long time. Her piano playing provides lots of great memories. Nobody I have heard played the piano like Granny. It always seemed to be lively and upbeat and she played using chords. She was passionate about the piano and continued to use that gift to bless other people right up until she got sick. The Roanoke Times even did a story about her piano playing at the nursing home on September 7, 2002. I still remember stopping by and seeing Granny, she was such fun to tell stories with, laugh with, and to get some great advice. I stopped by one time and she was going to play the piano at the nursing home and so I went along. I got a little teary eyed watching her play and what it meant to all those other people. I also partly credit Granny, with being a reason that I am in the fire service today. She knew of my love for emergency services when I was younger and I guess you could say that she kind of encouraged that. I found out later that my grandfather Joe Clingenpeel was involved in Fire and Rescue at the old Viscose plant in Roanoke, so Granny did know something about that. She would play fire trucks and first aid with me when I would spend the night at her house. My fifth birthday party at her house was all fire trucks. I also remember Granny always making me date pinwheel cookies. They started out as a Christmas treat, but once she found out that I loved them so, she made them all the time. There are many wonderful memories that I could share, but some are also better left treasured in the heart. I will post a picture today on the blog of Granny and Paw-Paw (Annah Lee and Joe) on their wedding day in 1935, in honor of Granny's birthday. It was fun to read the story of her birth today from her father's perspective. My, my things were different back then. I wish I would have talked to her more about this diary and the things that went on and what she remembered. We did do some of that and I am so glad that we did. Let me encourage you to talk to your family members and tell stories. It is a lot of fun and it is how we learn about our past, which matters a lot, because we are connected to those folks and I believe a lot of what happened to them, happens to us as well. So talking about it helps us in the long run, maybe we change things that need to be changed or maybe we strengthen things that need to be strengthened and either way, it's a lot of fun. Miss ya, Granny.