I remember as a child of about 9 years old always having the privilege of visiting my grandparents in Rutherfordton, North Carolina in the summer. I loved my grandparents with all my heart as they were the only family I had ever known. My father had left me and my brother at a young age and it seemed like his parents had left just as he had. They would resurface every now and then but they never really played any role in my life. My mother's parents were known to all of us as "Maw-maw and Paw-Paw." Since I'm from the North, all the Yankees addressed their grandparents as "Grandma and Grandpa." I always felt really special being able to call them Maw and Paw. It gave me the feeling that “they” were different from other grandparents and in my eyes they were. My Maw-Maw was very short and plump, wore glasses, wore an apron dress, and had pure white hair with yellow highlights. I remember one day I hugged her and the sun reflected on her hair. I noticed yellowish streaks running everywhere. My hair was dark brown and I wondered what I would look like with white hair like her. His hands worked for three times as long as I had lived. They were hands worked to the bone by peasant life, but when I was hurt she consoled me. Those hands you would have thought belonged to a neurosurgeon. She married at 13 and had her first child at 14. Eight children in all and a 54-year marriage to follow. My Paw-Paw was naturally tall and had coal black fur. His skin was brown like clay and he never showed his skin. He always wore long-sleeved shirts, overalls and boots. He said, "The Lord doesn't want us to walk around naked." I would later learn that my Paw-Paw had a lot of those Lords...... middle of paper...... swinging on the porch, dirty bare feet and licking honey up to his elbows. My grandparents were very religious people and their Christianity was of true faith. Every morning and evening he sat in his old green armchair by the table lamp and read the Bible. Seeing him do this every night it was by his example that I knew my Paw-Paw was a loving, kind and good man. Just before turning off the light he went to the old clock hanging on the wall and wound it with the key before going to bed. In the morning the same routine. He read the Bible and then wound the clock for the next day. Grace was said before every meal and you were always asked if you had said your prayers before going to bed. I loved that they knew and loved God so much, but I hadn't actually known Him yet.