Recently Jonathan's mother and sister shared some family stories with us that were so lovely that we decided to share them on the blog in a series of posts called Family Stories. We hope that by telling these stories, we'll help keep these precious memories alive for generations to come. The first story is about Gerald's mother (and Jonathan's great-grandmother), Elzie Mae Cooper Hardin Brinkley.

Elzie died on November 11, 1975, so she never met any of her great-grandchildren. She dearly loved her only grandchild, Jonathan's father, Greg.

When Greg was a little boy, he lived across the dirt road from his grandmother. Both of his parents worked, so he stayed with his grandmother every day. Each morning, he would put an egg in his pocket, walk across the road and his "Mommie" would cook his egg for breakfast.

One morning he fell down on his way to her house. Thinking his egg was destroyed, he was crying when he arrived at his grandmother's door. Elzie dried his tears, took the egg out of his pocket, wiped it clean and then cooked it for breakfast. Thinking back, Greg still isn't sure whether she was able to save his egg, or if she cooked one of hers just to make him feel better.

Elzie was a patient and kind woman who never raised her voice to her grandson and always turned a bad day into a good one. She cared for him with such a deep love that Greg said he can still feel the love she showed him every day. His childhood with her was one of the most important times in his life and shaped the person he became. Although his own children never met their great-grandmother, they know her love because he cares for them with the same type of love and generosity she always showed him.

Do you have a family story you'd like to share on the blog? Contact us here.