Love Song for Billie Storms

A few years ago on this particular day I bid fare well to a person that had helped shape my life. A woman whose personality inspired me from the absolute beginning of mine. A lady who could captivate you with her charm, my Grandmother, Billie Storms. Known to many as Granny, born in October of 1932, her vivacious spirit is the subject of family stories and so many of my thoughts. When you lose someone who means that much you can't help but be reminded of them constantly.

A few of the last words she spoke to me included asking me to deliver her eulogy. A task that I accepted reluctantly and was honored to be asked. Today having one of my weaker moments I decided to dedicate this blog to her.

Granny grew up in Dawson Springs during the depression, her parents were Schuyler and Ruth Hancock Carter. My Papaw was a career soldier in the United States Army and Granny and their four children joined him on every assignment the government would allow. Two stints in Germany, time spent in Colorado Springs, Colorado and home base was always Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Throughout those years I can't even begin to imagine all the people she met and impressions she made. She was the quintessential "People Person." Her laugh and her smile were infectious and it was easy to come to terms with the fact that to know her was to love her. I am also proud to boast that in spirit Granny never aged; she was youthful all her life.

A woman before her time she was independent, strong and driven. In the 1960s she began acquiring and selling Antiques, an upgrade from Stanley and Tupperware. She, with the help of my Grandfather started a business that came to be respected in its field as she sold countless beautiful artifacts of our tangible past. Storms Antiques has the topic of a previous blog.

She reared and adored four children: Judy, Eddie, Marcy and Mike, Eddie being my Dad. Needless to say she was always available to our family for advice, support, or babysitting. If you told her where to be she was there. After her retirement she and my Papaw became even more supportive fans of their eight Grand kids and in later years Great-Grand kids. Attending sporting events, church activities and birthday parties, she was always there. I guess that is why it was so difficult for me to deal with the fact that she wasn't going to be there any more. In recent years as I have reached milestones and made achievements it's hard not to pick up the phone and let her know the scoop. She always said she never had son or daughter-in-laws only additional children, and this was true. She loved my Mother, my Aunt Toni, and my Uncle Tony as if she had raised them herself.

When my Dad was growing up he played football and I always remember him telling a story of getting an injury during a game and coming to seeing her face. She had combed through the coaches and onlookers to check on her "Baby," a term she used on all members of her brood. Once my sister fainted in the grocery store and who was there when she woke up, you guessed it, Granny was there. She had an uncanny ability of knowing what to say and what to do for any occasion.

As life happens we are always given options and choices. Be that as it may we don't get the option of choosing our Grandparents. We come to know them in a time that they are settling down and we remind them of the child that brought us into the world. Thank God I got the Grandparents I did or the family I did for that matter. They have blessed my life in ways that I could never totally describe. My Grandparents gave me more than I could have ever asked for. History will probably not record the life and times of Billie Storms but that does not mean her life didn't reach great success. She changed the lives of all those she touched and I am very proud to have been her Grandson.

Enjoy Valentine's Day and enjoy your family. Until next week, all the best!