Generation to Generation

By Susan Dollyhigh –

Granny was a story-teller. “Susie, I hope you never have to live through a time like that,” she whispered after telling about suffering through the Great Depression. Her painful expression convinced me that her words were true.

Granny told me her grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee Indian. “Susie, my granny embroidered this handkerchief, and I want you to have it.” She gazed at the Indian girls playing on a make-shift seesaw, and I could tell her heart was gazing back at her childhood. Tears formed as Granny rubbed the corner of the handkerchief between her fingers, and then she gently placed it in my hand. Clasping her hands around mine she squeezed, and I felt the love of five generations flow through that small piece of cloth. Granny had confirmed my heritage to me.

Granny told me many other stories, but the most important was about Jesus. When I was a young girl, Granny took me to church. She made sure I knew we were celebrating Jesus’ birth at Christmas. She shared her sorrow of Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday, and we celebrated His resurrection on Easter Sunday. She validated these stories by reading them to me from her timeworn Bible. But most importantly, Granny verified Jesus to me with her life.

Now I’m a Nana, and like Granny, I love to tell stories. I’ve told my granddaughter about my growing up in the sixties, her Native American heritage, and about Jesus. I make sure she knows what we are celebrating at Christmas and Easter. I validate these stories by reading them to her from my Bible. But most importantly, I pray that I prove Jesus to my granddaughter with my life.

King David wrote Psalm 145 to the Lord as a hymn of praise, and says stories of His mighty acts, His glorious splendor, and His awesome works will be told from generation to generation.
Someday, I hope my granddaughter shares Jesus with her own grandchildren, and they with theirs, on and on, through the generations, until Jesus comes again.

Alice Elinor Adkins Shelton, thank you for sharing your stories with me. You and your love live forever in my heart.

Bible Verse: “One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts” (Psalms 145:4 NIV).