Everyone knows who Cher is, who Madonna is, who Prince, Bono, or Pink are … and everyone knew MawDee. Like those famous people I mentioned, MawDee only needed one name to be identified. She was MawDee – just like this unique name that she was called by all her grandchildren, MawDee was one-of-a-kind. She had a trendy grandma name before it became trendy, SHE was the original.
As I have been thinking through all the many memories I have had with my MawDee over the past 40+ years, one of the more prominent memories I have is about the story of her name. How many of you know how she got the name MawDee? Well, I remember being a young girl and when I would talk about MawDee to my friends or tell them she was coming over, they had never heard of that name. It certainly wasn’t unusual to me, that was just her name and I never knew her by anything different. I remember asking my mom about her name and why were there no other kids with a grandmother who went by the same name and to my surprise, my mom told me that MawDee didn’t start off with that name, she was first called MawMaw. What??? MawDee wasn’t a MawMaw in my mind – the name didn’t fit. The story goes that Damon, my older brother, was the first grandchild for MawDee & Pop but not the first grandchild on my mom’s side. My mother’s mother went by MawMaw and MawDee did too … at first. Mom explained to me the story of when she told Damon that MawMaw was coming to see him and he got all excited and then the MawMaw he was expecting didn’t show up and he was confused and disappointed. Mom calls up MawDee and says – we need to do something about your name. My mom had always called MawDee “Momma Drouet” so she suggested a clever combination of Maw + Dee for Drouet and just like that, we had our MawDee.
MawDee was a force, she was extroverted to the nth degree and when she entered a room, you knew it. I have many memories of going with her to the grocery store and by the time we left the store, the stock boy, the checkout lady, and the guy bagging our groceries knew our life story --- this is not an exaggeration. Just back in August, when Lars and I brought our kids to visit her, she paraded us around and let everyone know who we were and she was beaming about it. And while that may have been a bit embarrassing at times when I was younger, I knew it was her way of showing us how much she adored us and loved us. That, I knew, was never a question – my MawDee loved me with everything she had.
When she moved into Atria, we went to visit her about a month after. In less than 30 days, MawDee was one of the most popular residents there and everyone knew her name. And, how could you not? She LOVED people, people fed her soul, and she genuinely wanted to engage with others, she wanted to get to know them, and she wanted them to know she cared.
She was the quintessential grandmother – when we went to her house, she ran the equivalent of a diner. She fixed 20+ meals a day and provided every dessert imaginable. Her menu was not divided up by breakfast, lunch, or dinner – if you wanted Cherry Pie for breakfast, guess
what – you got it! And every night, you had your choice of 10 different kinds of Blue Bell ice cream.
We had a jam packed itinerary too – days full of swimming in the lake, fishing, and going to Lake Tejas. We would play card games, dominos, and Chinese checkers galore. And of course, every day in the late afternoon, we’d hear a knock at the door and one of her many friends would be coming by for coffee and pie – every day. And these visits weren’t planned – this was before people had cell phones and email – this was because MawDee knew so many people and she opened her home to every single one of them. This is what made her happy – being around her friends and her family.
I was fortunate to have had such a strong grandmother in my life – she was a good role model for me as a young girl that a woman could be who she was and not be apologetic about it. MawDee was confident, rarely was she embarrassed (unless it was something Pop did), and you know what – she LIKED herself, and I liked her too. Over the years, the family would tease her over her loud voice, her gazillion friends, or her 50+ food selection at every holiday. But she let it roll right off her back, she would roll her eyes and laugh, make a funny face and give me that wink --- letting me know she didn’t care one iota, she was going to do her, and she wasn’t going to change herself to please others.
MawDee was larger than life, and she genuinely loved the life she felt so blessed to have. Her big personality radiated from every part of her body. I will miss her voice, her laugh, her beautiful handwriting, and her generous spirit.
I love you MawDee, there will only be one of you in this world and I am lucky to have been your granddaughter. You passed on the same day as Billy Graham and when I heard this news, I immediately pictured you striking up a conversation with Billy outside those pearly gates as you both waited for your turn. I also know that even though he was Billy Graham, you went right on in there first and knew God would want to talk to you just as much as he would have wanted to talk to Billy. Because after all, you are MawDee – a one-of-a kind, the original – you knew it, God knew it, and so did we.
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