Winnie is my adopted grandmother. She is a very dear family friend who has known and loved me since I was only 6 months old. She would often come over to see my twin sister, Abby and I, and give our parents a break by watching us.
Before Abby and I started school, Winnie would often keep us while my mom did chores or ran errands, and sometimes just to get a break from having twin toddlers running around. We loved our Winnie so much that we had to have her as our own, so we referred to her as our adopted grandmother.
I often think back to the memories that we had at our Winnie's house. We would walk in and the entire house smelled of fresh blueberry muffins. She knew we liked blueberry muffins so she made them each morning before we arrived at her house.
I also remember whenever it was nap time and Winnie would put Abby and I in the "pink" room to sleep. We called it the "pink" room because everything was pink. Abby and I were never fond of nap time, and we didn't want to be apart from our Winnie, so she would have to lay down with us, one on each side of her, so that we could take our naps. She would then get up once she was certain we were sound asleep.
I also remember Winnie having a bowl of grapes on the kitchen table one day and I ate all of them. I think that's partly the reason I love grapes so much because they remind me of my sweet Winnie's house with every sweet bite!
Winnie has a granddaughter of her own who is much older than me. She was a teenager when I was born, and her name is also Adrienne. Yup, this is the girl I was named after! Adrienne was a very sweet Christian girl as a teenager and grew to become the same very sweet Christian woman today. People saw her faith shine on the inside out including my parents, thus deciding that their first daughter would be named Adriene, however, my name is spelled with only 1 'n' and her's is spelled correctly with 2. (Thanks Mom and Dad).
About five summers ago, Winnie came over one day to visit with us. She said she wanted to make our wedding garters so that we would have them ready whenever we got engaged and started planning a wedding. A week later Winnie came back over to deliver the lovely blue and white garters. Inside the garter is a tag that reads "made especially for you by Winnie Harrison."
We have tucked the garters away in a safe place to save them for our weddings. My mom pulled mine out a week ago and I put it on last night. Tears welled in my eyes as I knew that this garter was created by the precious hands of a woman who I hold a deep and strong love for; my Winnie.
I decided to call Winnie today to tell her the news of my engagement and catch up. When we went to go visit her, she did not look like the same Winnie that I had remembered. She is soon to be turning 94 years old. Her body is thin, her hair is white, and her hands suffer from arthritis. But her eyes and her smile have yet to age and her voice and laughter still sound exactly the same as my Winnie from years ago. Her short term memory was not as sharp, but she had no problem talking about the old memories that we shared.
I brought along the garter to show my Winnie that I still had it and was excited about wearing it on my wedding day knowing that it was made especially for me by her. She was delighted to see Abby and I and our mom. She repeated over and over how much she loved us.
Seeing Winnie today was like a breath of fresh air. It rejuvenated our souls and reminded us of how special it is when God puts people in our lives like my Winnie. I strongly believe that the friends and family I have are my gifts from God and how I choose to feel and interact with them is my gift back to Him.
Thank you, God, for the blessings (people) in my life!
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