In 2021, on our drive to Orlando, we made a very special stop and visited a small town that’s near & dear to my heart — Live Oak, Florida, once home to “Grandma Debbie’s house.”
My late grandma lived here for most of my childhood, and it was the first place I got to visit by airplane, so there are many memories here! Even though I had only visited once before, I remembered the town and the surrounding area very well. I had always dreamed about coming back to see how well I actually remembered it.
It’s the same but different. I got to watch some home video footage that my mom took where she captured our drive through downtown Live Oak. We drove the same streets, and I got to see the same signs, parks, and places we all saw together all those years ago. I miss my grandma so much, but she’s always with me because I will forever wear her handwriting and signature flower on my wrist, where she’s always reminding me to breathe.
Seeing this all again and just being in a place my grandma loved so much was emotional but so healing.
It was full circle that cookies led me back to my grandma. I was back there because I was asked to be a presenter at THE CookieCon and got the opportunity to pack up a trailer and drive it to Florida for the convention, where the route would go right through Live Oak.
P.S. on a sort of random note, my grandma showed me everything was gonna be alright on the very first night of our trip. After we finally got into our motel after 3 failed attempts, I went to wash my hands and I noticed the toiletries they provided were the same brand and scent my grandma Debbie used to wear. The scent immediately comforted me. You could call it a coincidence, but it felt like she was really there for me on this trip.
Anyway this sign really has nothing to do with Grandma Debbie. It was just a cute bakery-themed sign, and the address had my lucky number, so I just went with it! When I had done my research for the sign, it wasn’t painted over, so it was quite a shock when we got there and saw it blacked out. At least the cookie looked great, though!
