When Heather Pilkington, a senior at Ashbrook High School, was assigned an essay, "The Person I Most Admire," her choice was easy -- her great-grandmother -- Margie Eaden Stines. Not everyone is as fortunate as Heather, who spent a great deal of time with her great-grandmother, and could describe her so well:
"She was a symbol of Southern hospitality, a good Christian woman who would help anyone in need. She was known as Maw-maw Stines to the majority of our family. Ever since I was knee-high, I would look up to her with apple-pie crumbs covering my face and think how much I would like to be just like her. Even now that she is gone from our lives, I still admire everything she did.
"Maw-maw Stines was born around 1920 and was pulled out of school at an early age so she could care for the house. By thirteen she cooked, cleaned and gardened full time. A few years later she married Floyd Stines and began what would be a large family."
Margie Stines was born in Dallas and lived there her entire life. Her husband died in 1986.
"One of the things I always looked up to her for was her seemingly innate wisdom. She could not name the latest actors or quote the quadratic equation, but she had talent that could not be matched. People would actually fight over her delicious, moist, homemade fruitcake, for which only she knew the recipe.
"Her gardening skills seemed to know no boundaries. Just last summer I remember looking through her two gardens: one was filled with the colors and fragrances of exotic flowers and other flora that one could easily become lost in; and the other garden was full of the sweetest fruits and vegetables that could not be matched by any of the nearby markets. Indeed, everything seemed to come naturally to her, but one of the things that seemed to make her wisdom more apparent was her willingness to admit defeat when she met her match.
"Even at a young age, I could tell it took a lot of strength to admit she had done something wrong. I'll never forget one weekend I spent with her and she was trying to perfect her apple pie recipe. When it came out as a failure, she did not act mad or upset but simply changed her equation and tried again. When she realized that something was beyond her skills, such as fixing the leaking faucet in the kitchen, she was not afraid to ask others for help.
"She was robbed in 2002 but she would not file a police report because she felt that if someone was desperate enough to steal from an old lady they must really need what they came for. She would help a complete stranger wandering the streets, offering food and shelter to anyone who needed it. Even when she was on her deathbed, she was more concerned about the health of others than she cared about her own condition."
The funeral for Heather's great-grandmother took place on the second day of Heather's senior year in high school.
"This was the first Christmas that I did not have to fight someone for a piece of fruitcake or apple pie. Even though she is gone from the world, Maw-Maw Stines is not gone from our lives. We can all say that we respected her, but I can say that I really admire her and I hope to become a model of her." Grandparenting in GASTON Mary Evans Layton
