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Favorites
I love
Watching movies
Going Fishing
Reading Books
Driving
The Ocean
Playing With My Dog
Rodeo's
You Will Find Me:
Listening To Country Or 80's Rock
Playing Guitar
Taking Photos
Cooking
On The Internet
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My name is Tamra. My grandpa called me "Little Shug". I'm 37 years
old. I was an only child and my grandparents only grandchild. I spent every day after school with my grandparents
or my aunt and uncle, and almost every day in the summer until I was 13 and moved with my parents to Little Rock, Arkansas.
I would spend as much of the summer with them as my parents would allow. When I grew up and got a job,
I would go see them almost every weekend for a while. I never went over a month any time during my life without seeing
them and never missed more than a couple of days calling them on the phone. My grandpa was one of those "magical" people
to a child growing up. He played with me constantly and we were the instigators of most of the messes my grandma would
get so frustrated at and make us clean up. There wasn't anything my grandpa wouldn't do for me or with me. We played
dress up, He painted my face with water colors like the joker on Batman, He made me a swingset and would build a fire that
I could swing out and jump over like Evil Knievel, He helped me string Christmas lights all over the living room in the middle
of July, He took me to all the firework stands and waited patiently as I picked them out, helping me decide which ones to
get, He busted open dirt dauber nests and inspected every bug and worm inside talking about each one, He taught me about cows
and let me taste of the cow feed, We went fishing together and squirrel hunting, we picked muscadines, he told me ghost stories
passed down from his dad, We picked dry fly shells off of trees, and he made me a "hide -out" for my detective club.
There are so many things he did with me as a child, I can't even list them all.
When I grew up, he listened without judgement, but with advice, He always had time for me no matter what he was doing,
He was unselfish and would give me anything he thought I needed or wanted even though I wouldn't have taken it, He cried
with me, He understood, He was the one I could go to when I had a problem, He provided an unconditional love.
Some of the special things that we did in this last year when I knew he didn't feel
like doing anything else was that I would call him every Sunday night and we would watch the PBR (Pro Bull Rodeo)
and call each other in between commercials to talk about it. Sometimes we would watch Iron Chef America and try to pick
which chef would "Reign Supreme". He would always say that Mario Batalli would win against anyone he competed with. He
said he never saw him lose. We would talk about their "secret ingredient" like it was the most important thing in the
world. He could make anything seem so special.
I will miss him more than anyone will ever understand. He wasn't just my grandpa,
he was my best friend.
I wish I could be the kind of person my grandpa was, but I know I can't even come
close. I don't have near the patience, knowledge or wisdom among many other things to achieve it. He taught me
the most of the things I know and he provided a stability in my life that I wish that other children who grow up without
grandparents could have the opportunity to have. They are responsible for all of any good parts
of me today that there is left. Most of the things that have molded my likes and dislikes are from growing
up with my grandparents.
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Just a glimpse...
This was taken at my grandparents. I love
relaxing with my dog and got caught by the camera.
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