There she stood in her perfect way posing for the camera that was considered fairly modern for those days. Now my grandmother on my Father's side of the family spent most of her life working hard on the farm. Her name is Lillie Lucretia Shuey. God rest her soul as she left this mortal plane in 1973, right after the death of my infant son, Little Earl.

Times were rare that she dressed up in her Sunday best to pose for a camera. In her younger days though, she was a spectacle of beauty to behold. Indeed, Lillie was a gorgeous woman. I have looked at pictures taken of her in her late twenties and early thirties. At this age, she possessed a beauty rarely seen today

Lillie's skin was free of wrinkles. Maybe it's because she did not wear make up. Her cheeks glowed from an inner health and beauty. It must have been attributed to all that home grown food and fresh air. You know, Grandma Lillie brought sixteen souls into this world, my Dad being one of them. Her last baby was born at her young age of 59. Imagine giving birth to your sixteenth child at 59! I cannot scarcely believe it.

My Grandmother lived a long vibrant fulfilled life mothering and nurturing all those sixteen children, my Grandfather and hundreds of grand children and great grandchildren. Lillie watched this earth turn for 93 glorious years. Lord knows how much I love my Grandmother. Why I miss her to this day.

Now I'm wandering back to the day she posed for that camera. The photograph in my hand is yellowed with age and a little withered. Yet Lillie's smile is still captivating, her eyes are clear and bright, her skin is soft and glowing and her hair is perfectly in place the way she liked to pull her long brown hair up on her head. Lillie's dress was plain yet elegant. I suspect she sewed it with her own two gifted hands.

The photographer must have admired her beauty as he sized her up in that perfect pose, waiting for just the right smile and for the light to be just so. I imagine the man behind the antique camera remembered beautiful women like Lillie Shuey. He may have stalled a little longer than usual making adjustments in order to drink in just a few more moments of her loveliness. I'm sure of it.

I am filled with a pleasant nostalgia tonight remembering. Lillie Lucretia Shuey. You're walking on heavenly ground, of this I'm sure. I'll see you again, probably before the next flash of that camera.

The Midnight Writer