Pauline Midget McDaniel Bowman, 1923-2007

A smile slid across my Granny's face before she left this world at 2:30 a.m. today.

"She saw Daddy," Mama said, referring to Paw-Paw, Granny's husband of 64 years who passed away in 2003. "She just smiled, and then she stopped breathing."

Granny, 84, had been fighting cancer with everything she had since she was diagnosed last year. She made it through two surgeries, and even the doctors were surprised at her resilience.

"She's one tough bird," Dr. Parks, one of her surgeons, said after completing her second surgery last year.

Granny was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., on March 30, 1923. She and Paw-Paw had five children — Mary, Sammy, Jackie, Sarah and Dianne (Mama) — and raised them all in that little white house on Andrews Lane. They both worked and later retired from Barwick carpet mill in Kensington.

As long as Paw-Paw had his coffee cup and crossword puzzles, and Granny had her dog, Booger, and frequent trips to the Dollar General, all was well in the Bowman household.

And yes, Granny's middle name was Midget.

"Papa (Granny's father) said she looked like a midget after she was born, and that became her middle name," Mama said. "That's what it said on her birth certificate."

It's hard to put into words how much impact Granny had on this world, but it's safe to say that we're all better because she was here.

And maybe, just maybe, there's a Dollar General beyond those Pearly Gates, where Granny can get anything she needs. I'm sure they'll have some crossword puzzles on sale, and she can take to the man she's been waiting to see.