My great-grandmother, Opal Stafford Smith Tatum, was born on July 5, 1912. She was raised on a farm in New Castle, Indiana. When she was 10 years old, her mother died and she was left to be “the woman of the house”. She practically raised her younger sister Grace, did chores on the farm, and did most if not all of the household chores.Needless to say, she didn’t go too far in school. Basically she has about a 7th grade education. Yet she is one of the most amazing women I know.

She was saved at a tent revival that came through her town when she was a little girl. Soon her whole family was attending church. From that time on, she never missed. Even after she and my great-grandfather were married and he had to work on Sundays, she would walk to church by herself and never thought twice about it.

Granny and my great-grandfather raised two children, my grandma and my great-uncle Bill. The whole family was heavily involved in their church and community. Both of her children married godly people and started families of their own. When my great-grandfather passed away in 1972, my Granny had to pick up the pieces and move forward with her life. She took his life insurance money and decided that instead of making a nice little nest egg for herself she would put all 5 of her grandchildren through college. And that’s exactly what she did. Even though she didn’t have much formal education, she had a great love for it and wanted all of her grandkids to have the opportunity that she didn’t.
She never remarried. She never sold the house that she shared with her husband. She learned to take care of herself and all of those around her. She was so full of life and humor. When she was a teenager she won a Charleston dance competition (the dance, not the city). Even in her 60’s she could still kick her legs up and do it! When my dad left my mom she went around her house and put little tiny post-it’s over his face in all of the pictures. She would say, “I can pray for him, but that doesn’t mean I have to look at him!”. She was the fiestiest woman I have ever met. Stubborn but always loving. Every time we left Indiana we would stop by her house to say goodbye. She would always walk out to the front porch and stand there and wave at us until we were out of sight.
Granny passed away this morning. She’s been sick for a while now. The ongoing joke in our family was that for YEARS we have all been saying, “This will be Granny’s last Christmas” or thinking that everytime we left her was the last time.
The last time I saw her was in February. She was in an assisted living home and she was the best I had seen her in a long long time. She was walking and talking and smiling. She stopped every person we passed in the hallway to show off her family. When we left she stood at the end of the hallway and waved at us just like she used to at her house.
God blessed our family with her. No one could ask for more. I’m grateful that she is home with her Savior and reunited with her husband after all these years. I miss her, but I’m so thankful for all of the time I had with her.