Remembering our baby cousin Gracie today on the anniversary of her passing and thinking of her mama and daddy. She passed away July 13, 2010 in a drowning accident just a couple weeks shy of her second birthday. Gracie was a sweet ray of sunshine to all who knew her. Though she left this earth much too soon, I know she will never be forgotten.

We didn’t get to see her often because that part of the family lives in Cherokee, so I remember her as a snuggled up newborn safe in her carseat with her mama sitting next to her in the backseat. Then as a curious crawler tearing wrapping paper off a gift at Christmas while Mawmaw Cagle held her in her lap. I see her hanging her tiny coat on a chair post and toddling around Mawmaw’s living room going to the door to look outside and see the big orange kitty cat just a month or so before she died.

I like to remember her that way, her little face and blond curls pressed to the glass with a giant orange tabby mirroring her pose on the other side.

We miss you, Gracie. Hold Mawmaw’s hand tight while y’all play in heaven. We’ll see you again one day.