My grandmother has always been a very smart woman. She was married for over 50 years until my grandfather passed. She had 21 brothers and sisters. She was born in a small town in Arkansas to two sharecroppers, which should let you know she grew up working hard in the country. She has nine kids, 14 grandkids and five great grandkids.

My grandmother grew up in an era where school was not the top priority for the kids. She began working in the fields when she was 12-years-old. She dropped out of school in 9th grade because she had to work on their farm. She chopped cotton all day, helped with the farm animals and did house chores.

She married my grandfather and had 10 kids, but only nine lived. My mom is her oldest child. She taught my mom how to drive a tractor when she was only 5-years-old. She taught her how to milk a cow when she was 4-years-old.

For as long as I have been in this world, my grandmother has been working hard. I grew up in Arkansas just like her. My grandparents lived about 80 miles away from me in the country. They had their own farm and that was their full time job. Their main crops were rice, wheat and corn. In the summertime, they had okra, tomatoes, peas, butter beans and watermelon. They would have us pick the vegetables and bag them. Then, they would go to town to sell and would give us half of the profits.

My grandmother taught me how to budget money. She would give us a certain amount of money to spend, pay tithes in church and to save for a rainy day. She paid all of the bills and did all of the grocery shopping. She made sure the girls knew their household duties and made sure we did them. She taught us how to keep a house clean, how to cook and how to wash our clothes and dry them on a line.

She is a Christian woman and has very deep faith in the Lord. She sang in the choir and taught us how to sing as well for Sunday services. She had us singing solos and duets at all of the church programs. She would hold Bible study weekly for the younger kids in the community and also taught Sunday school for the adult group. She has been reading and studying the bible for years and still does it nightly.

When my grandfather passed, it was a rough time for my grandmother. Although she was a very independent woman, she still depended on my grandfather a lot. She depended on him to drive her around town. After he passed, she learned how to drive, studied for the driving permit and eventually obtained her driver’s license.

My grandmother stays by herself, maintains a small garden and still drives herself to church. She reads the bible nightly. She is the Sunday School Superintendent at her church and she still loves to sing. She works all day long on different chores inside and outside the house. It amazes that she has so much strength. She loves to dress up in her fine clothes, matching hats, shoes and purses. She is such a beautiful, courageous woman inside and out.

One of the most memorable moments I had with her was when we were picking blackberries off of a wild vine and a snake started chasing us. She hit the snake with the hoe and we were all running as fast as we could run. I knew then that she was one of a kind.

Nan R Walker has a BS in Accounting and a Masters in HR Management. She works two jobs and in her spare time works to complete her Alternate Teacher Certification program and studies for the PHR. She has three kids and two older dogs that she loves dearly.