'Granny' can now finish her stories

It wasn’t until I was a parent myself when I found out whether or not Hansel and Gretel managed to escape from the wicked witch’s hold, whether Little Red Riding Hood ever found her grandmother, and which of the Three Little Pigs built the house the Big Bad Wolf couldn’t huff and pull and blow away.

I had heard the beginnings of all those childhood bedtime stories, but I never got to the end. Dear grandmother Mildred E. Brooks, “Granny” to her only three grandsons, would start reading them aloud to us on a near nightly basis when we, as kids, cuddled up all around her in her cozy Bath home’s back bedroom queen-sized bed.

She would always get to some of the most interesting parts before, instead of reading us to sleep, she would doze off. We were the ones kissing her good night.

We gave our Granny, beloved Mrs. Brooks to all her “churn” – the way she referred to a generation of children she taught as elementary students – a final goodnight kiss in the mid-morning of Feb. 6. At age 93, a full life lived, Granny gave her body one last heavy breath before it could take it no more. She passed away peacefully of natural causes after a lengthy illness followed by two long days of struggle.

We shed a tear for our loss, naturally, but also for the flood of memories that always come rushing to the forefront at times like this.

It wasn’t until she turned 50 that our grandmother completed her goal of earning a teaching degree from East Carolina University. She was born to teach, and this meant she was finally able to fill that void. As a kindergarten and elementary school teacher in the small district of Bath, known to most as the oldest established town in North Carolina, she became a mother to all her students. She loved them all, and they seemed to return the emotion. She stayed in touch with them as their education and life process continued to grow.

Granny became an ardent sports fan, a fact that took her three grandsons somewhat by surprise. We never saw that side of her until watching her at games. The one who could work magic in the kitchen, spitting out her “Granny biscuits” with perfection each and every time, was quite a spirit in the bleachers.

She always made granddaddy buy her a soda in a cup at every sporting event. She would finish the drink as fast as she could, chew on the crushed ice and then cut out the bottom of the cup to turn it into a make-shift megaphone. This way, all her cheering could be heard even better. She had a favorite front row seat at all Bath school games, and Granny developed into the area’s version of EveryFan. The players, most of them former students, appreciated her presence.

We did, too. We’ll miss her greatly, as will our own mother, Granny’s only child. She will remain with us always in spirit, and we can only pray that where she is now she is able to finally finish all those stories in peace. She’s still cheering for us, too. We’ll always hear that as well.