Every Sunday morning, rain or shine, hot or cold, in the mood or out; Granny put on her best frock, forced me to wash behind my ears, checked my fingernails for dirt and dragged me to church whether I liked it or not or whether she liked it or not.

“You can’t always do what you want to do,” she said, “Sometimes you just have to do what is best!”

To Granny, learning of and worshipping God Almighty was the best and nothing would stand in her way.

– “What Would Granny Say” by Rev. Tony Rowell

Granny Maggie and Grandpa Clayton Tharpe were Rev. Tony Rowell’s grandparents. They lived in the Florida Panhandle during the early 1960s. As a boy, Rowell looked forward to spending summers with them. He says his life back then was not that different from Opie Taylor’s on the Andy Griffith TV show.

During the summer, he walked old dirt roads down on the panhandle. kicked tin cans, chucked rocks, and fished. Sometimes he said he would sit beside his Grandpa Tharpe in the carport and listen to the night sounds.

“Granny Tharpe showed her love for me in many ways, he said. “A kiss on the cheek, teaching me how to bait a fish hook and an object lesson now and then. Each Sunday we went to church and on Sunday afternoons we went visiting. Granny and Grandpa Tharpe would take me to visit great aunts and uncles, 1st, 2nd and 3rd cousins and their friends. Being a child, he didn’t like it but years later he said he missed those visits.

Many good memories were made during the years Rowell stayed with his grandparents in Florida. Now, 79 of his faith-based essays of Grannie Tharpe, his missionary ministries in Bolivia, Columbia and Latvia, and his photography are included in his book. Rev. Rowell says his prayer is that those who read his book will renew their love for God, family, country and the beauty of nature. Rev. Tony Rowell is pastor of Beulah United Methodist Church in Gilbert.