My grandfather passed away on Tuesday morning, the 6th of January, as my Aunt Emily held his hand and sang to him. She sang, "I'll Fly Away." On Friday, the day of his visitation, the courthouse put the flags at half mast in honor of him. Everyone working there wore black ribbons, and black ribbons were tied at various locations throughout the building. All of the local news stations carried the story. As you can see in his obituary, he was very dedicated to the progress of Elmore County and of Alabama as a whole.
The line for his visitation ran down the aisle of the chapel, through the foyer, and outside down the sidewalk. The outpouring of support was overwhelming. Y'all would not believe the food. People brought by custard pies, chocolate cakes, red velvet cake, barbecue ribs, pulled pork, chicken, spaghetti, casseroles, rolls, meat trays, veggie and cheese trays, and many more dishes.
My father gave the eulogy and he did an excellent job. He only started to choke up one time, which is so amazing to me. I could never be strong enough to deliver the eulogy at my father's funeral. Here are a couple of my favorite stories from the eulogy:
My Daddy and I attended more than 50 funerals together. Back in the early 80's we were sitting in a country church just outside of Eclectic. The casket was in front of the pulpit, and a very eloquent and overly generous eulogy on the deceased was being given when Daddy punched me in the side and whispered with a sense of urgency, "I need to go open that casket." I said, "What do you mean, you need to open the casket?" He replied, "They are burying the wrong man."
...Holley helped Daddy obtain from Governor Big Jim Folsom an appointment to the vacancy. In an interview with the governor, Big Jim asked Daddy whether or not Daddy had voted for Big Jim in the last governor's race. Typical of Daddy's penchant for brutal honesty, he answered "No." This frank answer caused Sheriff Holley much distress and embarrassment. For some reason, Big Jim appointed Daddy to the position of Tax Assessor anyway.
The congregation sang "Lily of the Valley" and "Rock of Ages," and two scriptures were read (Psalm 100 and John 14:1-4). I was unable to finish the song. The fourth verse really hit home. I heard a few other family members around me cry during the fourth verse as well. Here are the words:
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
After his funeral, we had a small graveside service just for immediate family members. Anyone who wished to could get up and say something. It was really nice. Bryant spoke for me and here is what I had written:
[Excerpt about Granddaddy from my blog, written in August 2008]
…I got to thinking about all of the times my Daddy and Granddaddy have cooked such a nice, big breakfast for me and my children and how that's how they show us they love us. They tell us they love us too, but they really enjoy cooking us breakfast.
Granddaddy has been cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Grandmama for 63 years now, but breakfast is his specialty. He is also incredible at fish, gumbo, and really anything else he makes. Throughout the years, since we lived next door to him, we were always sent back and forth between the houses to borrow and deliver things. I would say the most common were tomatoes, onions, and okra. I remember once he called and asked for a tomato and I volunteered to take it over. When I got there, he hugged me and gave me $5. I was so excited. I went home and showed my brothers and sisters the $5 and so a few of them went right over and reminded Granddaddy that they had brought over a food item a week or two prior. He got a good laugh at that. One time I heard Grandmamma ask Aunt Ellen why everybody liked Granddaddy more than her and Ellen said, "Because he always gives us $20." Jenny reminded me that Granddaddy always gave us money for our report cards too.
He is most in his element sitting in his chair, with a watered down glass of Jack Daniels in his hand and an Alabama or Clemson game on television. I really love his funny sayings and I find myself quoting him all the time. Here are just a few of my favorites:
You never know how you look til you get your picture took.
Eat what you want. Leave what you don't.
Collard greens (or whatever vegetable he is serving) make your eyes blue.
Eating (whatever he is serving that night) puts hair on your chest.
Jacob added, “Alr-i-i-i-i-ght.”
Josh added, “A preposition isn’t a good word to end your sentence with.”
I'm glad y'all got to see me.
He used to sing "Pistol Packin' Mama". There have been several other great songs over the years.
When he dropped us off at school, he always said, “Make a hundred.”
My granddaddy likes to ask us how we want our eggs. He is really good at short orders. And his grits are always just the right consistency - not too thick and not too runny. I like my eggs over easy and he makes the best over easy eggs that I have ever eaten - he's perfect at them too. One sure fire way to make Granddaddy mad is to insult his cooking. He is proud of what he does, and he should be. It is extremely rare that anyone should have reason to complain about his food anyway.
It is very evident how much Granddaddy and Grandmamma love each other. She would still sit in his lap out in the rocking chair until he got cancer. They love to dance and once they took me out dancing with their friends at the beach. I danced with Bobby Carr. One of my favorite sounds in the world is my Granddaddy whistling while he is working outside. And my Grandmamma loves to hum while she is gardening. The two of them make beautiful music together.
My granddaddy and grandmamma have owned, over the years, two beach condominiums and three beach houses. We were always made welcome, whether they were there or not. Lots of times I would just go by myself (or without my brothers and sisters) and stay for a week or two with them. He loved to get the fresh seafood and he would always bet me that I couldn't eat "just one" of his shrimp. He made his own cocktail sauce too, and it was delicious. Of course it was. We used to go over to the Florida state line so that he could get a lotto ticket.
He used to have many head of cattle and a handsome bull named "Jimmy." He once shot our dog in the leg for chasing his cows. My Daddy had free-range chickens and Granddaddy hated for them to get in his yard. Once I was out walking on the driveway and Granddaddy came up to me and told me he had made some good Chicken and Dumplins the night before. He then asked, "Don't you want to know where I got the chicken?” I didn't have to ask.
Granddaddy was a great steward of the earth. I often times saw him picking up trash that people had thrown out of their cars onto the side of the road that we lived on. He really liked to work on the tractor too. I loved to watch him bail the hay in the hayfield. When I was a child, I loved to ride on the tractor with him. One of the last things I said to him was, “Thank you for always taking me to feed the cows with you. That was fun.” He smiled and said, “You’re welcome.”
I used to love to go to the courthouse and stick my head in his office and say hello. He and the ladies that worked there always made me feel like they were happy to see me. Now I like to show my girls his picture on the wall in the Probate Office. I am and have always been so proud to be his grand daughter. If ever I saw him at the post office, grocery store, or country club, he would hug me and it would make my day. Even though I lived next door to him and saw him all the time, when I got to see him out like that, it was like getting a special bonus that day.
He is one of the smartest people I have ever met. He knows a little about everything. Some people act like they know a little about everything, but Granddaddy really does. I think one reason is because everyday he reads the whole entire newspaper from front to back.
Granddaddy was so sweet to me. He always told me I was beautiful, even when I looked terrible. I feel so blessed to have grown up next door to my grandparents and to have seen them nearly everyday of my childhood. I love Granddaddy so much. I worshipped the ground he walked on. I know I will see Granddaddy again, and when I do, it will be a joyous reunion. But until then, there will be a hole in my heart and I will miss him more than words can say.
Jacob got up and talked about how proud he was to be called "Judge." Jenny spoke about how Granddaddy taught us to take responsibility. Josh spoke about how he could always depend on Grandmama and Granddaddy and how their phone number was the magic number. He could always call it and ask for something after Mama and Daddy told him no. Georgia got up and told a couple of stories and told Grandmama how supportive, graceful, and dignified she has been throughout Granddaddy's illness. Joel read a sweet letter from Hannah. Sophie, Audrey, and Emily all said a few things. Emily talked about how witty Granddaddy was. Lincoln talked about how Granddaddy taught him to take his hat off as soon as he walked inside anywhere, and that if he didn't take it off, then Granddaddy would "take it off for you."
We buried him in the Enslen plot at the old cemetery in Wetumpka. It is a beautiful old cemetery. Many Confederate veterans are buried there. Bryant and I went to see him on our way out of town, and the wind had blown a red rose away from the rest of the flowers, just for me. I picked it up and carried it home with me.
While in Alabama, the boys golfed, duck hunted, and played football. So Jenny, Georgia, and I went shopping one day while Troy and Bryant kept the kids occupied. They had the best day. They whittled marshmallow sticks and built a big bonfire on which to cook supper that night. We roasted hot dogs and had smores for dinner, and the best part was, no clean up! The next day Bryant took some of the kids for a ride on the tractor. It took some convincing to get Isaac to give it a chance, but once he tried it, he liked it! I sure loved riding on the tractor with my grandfather when I was little. I'm glad my kids get to have that experience with their dad. You can't beat an old Ford tractor. 
My mother took everyone ice skating while we were there, or should I say everyone who wished to ice skate? Rhett was really fun to watch. He just leaned against Georgia the whole time and made her do all of the work. I didn't go because I don't ice skate, so Bryant went for our family. He ended up being a de facto ice skating lifeguard, if you will. He would rescue any of the Enslen children in distress and get them to the nearest exit or nearest parent. (There's a picture of him rescueing Alyssa and taking her to the tree stand in the middle of the rink. She's the one wearing black.) I must say it was really sweet. Because Bryant doesn't want to be too sweet, he would occasionally scrape up a snowball with his ice skating blades and throw it at someone. Is he not the cutest in his Alabama tee shirt? He is a pretty good ice skater and he had the girls doing it on their own by the end of the session. (Skyler is in the brown shirt.)
