Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton sing this song together and something just struck me. Brad Paisley sings, "When I’m get where I’m going, I’ll walk with my Grand Pappy…". Well, I realized, I never met any of my grandparents. They were all gone before I was born, and some stories like those about my Irish Grandfather are of a rather wild hard drinking Irishman from whom I steered clear. Mother talked about her family, but not much; she was very busy with three small children and the ghost of several angels in heaven that made my mother quiet…. You know who I want to meet and talk with? My Mother’s mother. I’ve only seen one photo of her. By current standards she was a small dumpy woman. Probably in a homemade cotton dress with those old lady high top shoes. She doesn’t show the beauty my Mother shows in her high school picture that I have on my dining room dresser. "Grandmother, I didn’t know you, but I find myself spouting bits of wisdom that I attribute to my Mother. Did you teach her that wisdom? I thank you for that Grand Mother. I thank you that you saw something bright in my mother and you sent her off to nursing school when some of the others before her did not finish high school. Thank You Grandmother." God bless us today in the USA. God bless the immigrants who came here: all 4 of my grandparents from Italy and Ireland. Thank you for that journey that made me an American.
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