Memories of Granny Spencer

Her name was Conilee Texas Ramsey Spencer. My sisters and I simply called her “Granny.” I’ve always said that if you looked in the dictionary or an encyclopedia under the word grandmother, surely a picture of my Granny would be there. She was the epitome of the word grandmother.

As I posted earlier, she was the wife of my grandfather, Rev. Ed Spencer (Paw). Granny and Paw lived in the Ritta community on Edmondson Lane in Knoxville, TN. They lived in a small, simple, clapboard house near the top of their dead-end street. Their house was THE place to be on Sundays and holidays. All family members gathered there for food, fun, conversation, singing, and just family-togetherness. Being in that house with everyone made you feel loved.


Granny was known countywide for her good cooking. Her specialty was chicken-n-dumplings. Folks would come from miles around in hopes of tasting some of her down home country cooking. Not only did Granny enjoy cooking, she enjoyed eating as well. She always loved spicy foods. I can remember her putting Taco sauce on her eggs in the mornings. Once, I asked her why she did that. Her reply was, “well, if I didn’t put this sauce on there, I wouldn’t be able to taste it,” and then she just laughed like she had said the funniest thing in the world. You know, for a country cook, Granny sure did like other foods, like pizza and lasagna. She could have probably beaten me in a pizza-eating contest.

Granny always seemed to be in a good mood. She laughed a lot and I never heard her say a bad thing about anyone. She might have, but I never heard it. She was always bragging on things that her grandkids had done. If any of us wrote little stories, drew pictures, sang a song, or anything, she would just go on and on about how wonderful it was. I didn’t know, until after she had passed away and we were sorting through some of her things, that she had kept some little stories I had written when I was a child. They were tucked away in a safe place in her bedroom.

One time, Granny took my sisters and me to the Knoxville Zoo. She didn’t have much money and I’m not even sure how she got tickets for the zoo. Afterwards, she took us to McDonalds. She couldn’t afford to buy us a meal, but from her pocketbook, she pulled out a stack of lemon cookies that she had wrapped up in a napkin. I don’t remember how old I was at that time, but it embarrassed me so I wouldn’t eat any of them. I just knew that everyone was sitting around staring at us and thinking “oh, those poor country kids.” If I had only known then what I know now, I would have eaten one of those cookies, given my sweet Granny a kiss, and thanked her for thinking enough of us to take us to the zoo and bring us some cookies. I can’t take back that day no matter how much I wish that I could. But, it did teach me a lesson in humility, and for that I am thankful.

Below are a few of my favorite memories of Granny:

*She used to shout so loud in church that it would ring from the rafters.

*She played the piano like an angel, yet never took a lesson.

*One time, she was eating corn on the cob and said she was embarrassed because it was flying through her teeth.

*She stayed at our house one Christmas Eve and told us that she saw Santi coming over the hill so we had better get in the bed and go to sleep.

*She always had Circus peanuts, lemon pinwheel cookies, or Orange slices in jars on her counter.

*I never heard her ask for one thing for herself, except things like hand-drawn pictures or poems from her grandkids.

*She used to pinch my leg in church if I acted up.

*She would take me aside and give me words of encouragement, like telling me that I could be a great writer some day, or an artist, or a singer, etc.

* She was a poet, and wrote many beautiful poems in which she compiled in a large book.

*She would not hear things correctly and would repeat back something crazy. Like, if I said, “It sure is hot in here,” she might say, “Shirley shot a deer?”

*I guess most of all… Granny was a giver, not a taker. She probably had less money than anyone in the whole family, but she was richer in love and contentedness than every one of us.

Up until my sister Pam died, Granny’s death affected me more than anything in my whole life. My other grandmother, Bessie Chesney, had died when I was 10 years old. At that time, I was very upset, but I didn’t realize exactly what was going on because I was still a kid. When Granny Spencer died, I was 26 years old and I cried for weeks after she passed away. I was so upset that she would never get to see my first-born daughter, Jessica, whom my wife was pregnant with at the time of Granny’s death. Just thinking about Granny not being here right now as I’m writing, this makes me cry. I know that everyone must die at some point, but I would give up everything I own in this world to be able to see Granny again. My life has not been the same since losing her. I am reminded of her nearly every time that I see my mother. She looks a lot like her and she has the same traits. I’m sure my kids don’t understand how precious this time is that they still have their grandmother around. It seems that those things aren’t realized until after it’s too late.

Conilee Texas Ramsey Spencer
Born: July 23, 1912 Knoxville, TN
Died: December 8, 1992 Knoxville, TN

Moral of this story: Treasure today, the ones that you love, for tomorrow they may just be a memory.