Memory Wall

Mary and I originally made this video to send on my family group chat when they asked what we were up to. After we miserably failed to obtain a golf cart, we proceeded to walk all 9 holes. Not to mention, it started to rain halfway through, so we eventually had to leave when we heard the lighting sirens go off. Maybe not the most conventionally happy memory, but it's one of my favorites because if I were to walk through rain carrying 15lbs, she would be the one I want to do it with.

I love thinking about the ways Mary Virginia and Elsie used to keep themselves entertained. The best is when they were really young, they played “horses” using a blanket as the rope while one would be the horse and the other was the leader. They could be heard neighing and trotting around our house for hours, and they were so excited one day to tell me that Heath had made them a jumping bar at Mary’s house just for their horse game. As they got older, choreographing dances was their favorite pastime. Mary would always lift and spin Nora and they would partner up on the cutest dances. Mary’s excitement and joy as she played and danced was always contagious.

MV was the tiniest baby I ever had the honor of holding. When our daughter first laid eyes on her she couldn't believe her size. She was around 2 at the time. She began using "Mary Ginia" as an adjective to describe tiny things. Such as '"hat is a Mary Ginia apple" or "Did you see that Mary Ginia butterfly?" Petite but so mighty she was. Another favorite memory was her gentle care of our youngest son. Whenever our families would be together, be it Rosemary Beach or family homes, wherever Mary was, Everett would be near her or was being held by her.

Mom (Adriana) had a meeting in Little Rock, Lala and Debbie were called on to babysit. Mary Virginia and Whit were weeks old. Two grandmothers decided to take the twins to Kroger. I wish I had a video of that day. We appeared to have never been around a baby, so give us twins…you get the picture. I have loved MV since she was just a shadow on an ultrasound picture. She brought me joy before she was born. I am blessed to have known her.

My favorite memory was the night of this very picture above in December! MV was being her usual happy, funny self as we got ready for Brylee’s sweet 16 birthday party. I remember continuously watching these 4 girls have so much fun getting ready, decorating, taking pictures, telling stories, sharing favorite memories over the years. All I kept thinking was, “thank you God for these awesome girls in our lives! They are a true blessing!” The thoughts flooded like I can’t explain. Later that evening as MV waited for her mom to pick her up, she received a call from her mom that she had an accident not far from home and hit a family of raccoons! Listening to MV tell us all the story of what happened in her funny, animated voice was the best! God has a way of making things happen for the greater good. Unfortunately a family of raccoons were lost but this event provided these girls one last sleep over together. Little did we know it would be her last visit to our house. Their laughter continued through the night with hot tub talks and late night snack giggles that are sweet memories of a lifetime. That gift was the best gift Brylee could have received for her 16th birthday. MV was her best friend and that will be cherished by her forever! Thank you for all the fun memories MV. We love and miss you dearly!

One of my favorite memories with MV is from Halloween when we were out trick or treating with a group of friends, but somehow we lost half of the group and it ended up just being me, Mary, Nick, and Joseph. We came up to this house where the person before us got jumpscared by a lady on the porch, so we decided to just keep walking. But Mary was curious and walked a little closer to see if the lady would try to scare us too. After a second she started walking back toward the street and out of nowhere the lady came running at us screaming. Nick immediately bolted in the opposite direction leaving the rest of us. We all met back together & we’re laughing about how Nick just left us all to save his life. Looking back, it’s one of those memories that just feels so full of life and happiness. We were all together & completely caught up in the moment. It’s such a small and random moment, but it’s one I’ll always hold onto because it reminds me of how much we would laugh and enjoy the present moments no matter what the situation was.