Minnie Eva( Claywell ), Chrisman, Martin, Bandy was my grandmother. She was married 3 times, but had only one child, Floyd. She could work as hard as any man that ever lived - and she did.

She was a lifelong member of the Christian Church and I never remember her

using a curse word. She may have thought them, but she never spoke them.

She was a loving daughter, wife, sister, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was a great cook and could make the perfect biscuit. She fried chicken nearly every Sunday and made mashed potatoes and gravy to go with it. Later in life we would go out to eat after church. I missed that fried chicken so much!

She loves all animal, but horses and dogs were her favorites. She had many of them and took great pride in them. She helped raise cattle, chickens, goats, horses, pigs, guineas, cats and dogs. She even helped raise me and my sister, Martha. She took us everywhere and did all she could for us. In 1966 she became a great grandma so I took my son to the nursing home so she could see him. She had a stroke so she couldn't speak. I just laid him in her arms on the hospital bed and she cried. She had a dog named Toadie that was with her all of the time. I took Toadie to the nursing home to see her too, and she cried. She loved that dog until the day she passed from this earth. I believe they are together again in Heaven.

She was a special lady who you could trust to keep a secret. She was the only person I could go to when I needed to talk about anything. She was my best friend. She always called me "Sug"

She lost her father, John F. Claywell, when he was only 59 years old. After his death, she and my daddy who was 6 at the time, stayed close to my grandma Claywell in Springfield, Illinois to help her.

Her first husband, Charles Coltas Chrisman Sr. left her for another woman before my dad was 1 year old. She never spoke of him good or bad to us. She would just say "It's just not worth talking about".

Her second husband, William Douglas Martin, raised and adopted my daddy as his own, Grandma really lover Mr. Martin, but later in life, grandma and Mr. Martin divorced. He was a real nice man and I have always wished he could have been my daddy's real dad.

Her third husband was Roscoe Oliver Bandy. He was the only real grandpa that my sister and I ever had. We never knew my mother's parents as they had already passed from this earth before we were born.

My grandmother had many sad times in her life, but she never spoke badly of anyone. She loved everyone. If she had something against you, she made sure you knew it, but she always kept it to herself. Her favorite saying was" If you can't say something good about someone then just don't say anything at all". She practiced what she preached!

When she died at the age of 75, it left a hole as big as Texas in my heart. If I can live to be at least just half the person she was, I will be a happy person.

Mary Frances Martin Eisel