Zhavia Whitaker was only seven months old when MaeDell Taylor Hawkins held her for the first time in February.
This 98-year-old matriarch of a large family in Kentucky finally met her first great-great-great-grandchild.
A photo of the event that granddaughter Gracie Snow Howell posted online went viral very fast. MaeDell now has almost 620 grandchildren between the children of her own daughters and the children of their progeny.
“We felt that this was unique since it features only girls,” Gracie said, making an appearance with
The picture shows Jacqueline Ledford, Jaisline Wilson, Gracie Snow Howell, and MaeDell Frances Snow’s great-granddaughters. Hawkins’ granddaughter Sheryl Blessing took the photo.
In July, MaeDell becomes 99 years old.When she was sixteen years old in 1940, she married a fifty-year-old railroad worker who had ten children from a previous marriage.
Her husband, Bill Taylor, traveled a lot for work. According to Gracie, the two still shared 13 children, and none of them had access to many modern comforts. The house did not have running water or a washing and dryer.
Gracie said to People, “I know she had it hard, but she didn’t complain.”
Gracie went on to remark that she had never heard her mother Frances lament their lack of material belongings.
MaeDell’s love and support have surely led to generations of happy, healthy women and children, as this picture of six generations of women shows.
“We’re going to meet back in June and get another picture if everything goes well, the baby’s doing well, Grandma’s doing well,” Gracie said to Fox News.
In addition to 106 grandchildren, 222 great-grandchildren, and 234 great-great-grandchildren, the matriarch of Kentucky is rumored to have 37 great-great-great-grandchildren who live outside of Kentucky.
It is difficult for us to imagine raising so many wonderful children on such a meager income. Please share your ideas by leaving a comment below!
