Every family with young children needs that kind, older, grandmother-like figure to offer encouragement and babysitting, especially when the blood grandparents live far away. In Georgia in the early 90s, our church friend Pat Braswell filled that role. She and her husband, Buddy, were role models in our congregation who unconditionally loved everyone around them.
To this day, Jason recalls sitting by the Braswell’s backyard pool, surrounded by blueberry bushes, which he sometimes sampled. Each time Miss Pat babysat, the highlight was a plate full of vanilla wafers, which he referred to as “Pat’s cookies.” So long as he was a good boy and finished his puzzles, Miss Pat let him eat cookies and bounce around in the pool.
Occasionally, Pat’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson visited and sometimes the visit coincided with her Jason babysitting duties. Jason looked forward to playing with Pat’s grandson who was about two years older than him. The boys tossed a ball in the pool, played with toys, and consumed blueberries and Pat’s cookies. There was nothing unusual about their friendship except that Jason’s toddler friend grew up and, like his dad, became a very successful singer-songwriter in country music. In fact, Jason’s childhood playmate, who goes by Thomas Rhett, has produced seven albums which have generated 28 singles, including a string of chart-topping radio hits. He has, as of this writing, been nominated for five Grammy Awards and has been nominated for or won a boatload of other music industry awards. He’s a big deal in the music industry.
One of Thomas Rhett’s big hits, “Remember You Young,” won Video of the Year at the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards in addition to other accolades. In the song, Thomas Rhett sings, “And no matter how much time goes by, and no matter how much we grow up, for worse or for better, from now ‘til forever I’ll always remember you young.” He says the song carries a theme of nostalgia—references to his wife and children and past events. “We wrote this song about the people in life that we love, and always remembering them in their youth, no matter how much time passes and we all change.”
I appreciate Thomas Rhett’s Christian faith, that he attended my alma mater (Lipscomb University) for a while, and his rise to country music stardom. But I also remember him as a little boy, eating blueberries and Pat’s cookies by the pool with my son Jason. They both would go on to bigger and better things, but I’ll always remember them young.
