A group of women recently got together to take unique family photos featuring all six generations.
In a picture taken last month, MaeDell (Taylor) Hawkins is seen holding her great-great-great-granddaughter Zhavia, who was born in December. According to Gracie Howell, age 58, her 98-year-old grandmother has held “hundreds of babies” over the years.
Gracie continues, “We thought it was special because it was all girls. ”.
In addition to MaeDell and Zhavia, the photo also features Gracie, her mother Francis, Jacqueline, her daughter, and Jaisline.
According to Gracie, her grandmother is “as sharp as a tack” and ready to “tell you how to take care of a child” at the age of 99. ”.
In the course of the visit, “Zhavia got a little fussy,” and MaeDell, who now resides in a nursing home and sleeps in a bed, “swooped her right out of Mama’s arms”.
We have a photo of her tickling her tiny feet,” she continues. Sweet times”.
Gracie admits that her family’s story is “astounding,” but she denies knowing their photo would spark such a controversy. She privately sent the photo to a nearby meteorologist and described her grandmother’s life, and she claims to have been “overwhelmed” by the positive response.
Additionally, she says that it has given her grandmother an “amazing” opportunity for “a little acknowledgment.”.
Gracie claims that her grandmother never brooded about her life.
MaeDell married her first husband, a railroad worker who worked away from home the majority of the week, when she was 16 and he was 50. They welcomed 13 children together and raised his ten stepmothers.
She had no dishwasher, washer, or dryer, nor did she have running water.
“I remember when I was a teenager, and she still didn’t have running water,” Gracie remembers. She insists, however, that her mother has never gone without a good meal, supper, or a change of clothes.
She had it difficult, but she didn’t whine, says Gracie. She just kept moving forwar”.
The family also expanded over time. We have a large family, she continues”.
With the exception of one, MaeDell’s stepchildren have all “outlived their husbands”.
Her life has been full, Gracie continues. “I just adore her.