Remembering Sarah Elizabeth Hunt

Today marks the 89th birthday of Grandma Betty McIntire. I want to say a little about her and tell what I remember about her that would be beneficial for my children and posterity.

Kind, loving and generous--

She was a perfectionist and did whatever she did with much detail and precision. She kept her home in order in an immaculate way. Her energy and drive always amazed me. I knew her in the years that I was a young mother, but somewhat weighted down with much responsibility and I had much less physical stamina than she generated.

Her garden was beautiful. She kept the flower beds clear of weeds, she fertilized her roses and kept them well trimmed. She had the most breath taking roses, which she gave to others with bouquets of brilliant colors. The ones that I loved the most were those bright coral orange/pink color combinations. The petals looked like velvet. Another beautiful color was yellow with red on the edges.

The lawn in her yard was dichondra, which looked like tiny green leaves like clover. It was a lawn that needed a lot of attention and upkeep, which she gave daily. She would wake up around five in the morning. She left for work about 7:00 am. She normally would read the newspaper in the family room, where Grandpa’s chair and ottoman were and she’d sip a cup of tea as she read the paper. She showered and got ready for work. She worked full time and managed her time wisely.



Betty had a wisdom about her that she shared with me in helping understand whether it was how to discipline my children or to help them learn how to work together and help me keep the house in order. She also taught me how to cook. She taught me how to make her remarkable gravy as I have taught my children and daughters-in-laws. She made the first turkey in a paper bag herself, and I was there to witness and taste the tender, juicy white and dark turkey meat firsthand. The tradition lives on.

She dressed with style and wore matching suits with nylons and high heels. She was only 5’ tall. She wore the heels which made her taller. Her hair always looked well groomed. She let me cut and style her hair regularly since I was hair dresser by profession. She would color her hair with Loving Care, whether it was to cover the gray or to enhance it with a color that would make her gray hair look nicer and prettier and used Silk N’ Silver.

Tara said she remembers her lovely hands with painted finger nails with bright colored nail polish. She sewed a lot too when Mary Beth was growing up, making her clothes and clothes for her dolls. She once helped me make a seat cover for an old couch she and grandpa had given us when we had our first home, which they helped us financially get into. They were both very generous to us over the years.

One thing that was unique about her was that when she bought something new, like a new suit or dress, she would wait to wear it until she had a new slip, bra and underwear “to wear something new from the skin out.” When she passed away, there was a new pantsuit in her closet. Mary Beth, Grandpa and I went shopping for her to have everything new from the skin out, complete with socks for her feet! She certainly did not need any shoes, but was buried in that new pant suit, which I have seen her wearing when she came to visit me in one of the first dreams I had of her.

She loved her grandchildren dearly and left a legacy of the genealogy, which she did for many years as her hobby and interest. She saved the papers, records and many pictures compiled for posterity. A blessing surely was hers for the many hours and trips,letters written for acquiring the extent of the genealogy she gathered over the years. I have made sure to preserve these records that she left and imparted them to her grandchildren, my children. She also had a gift of storytelling, recording a dozen or more cassettes. She had a cute laugh that you hear on the tapes she recorded for posterity. Listen to them...Michael has twelve more tapes to put on disc of her personal history.

An Angel Watching over US--

I know she is watching over us and still cares about me after all these years. She is as close as a thought, prayer or dream, depending on my faith and yours!