Alwana Vaughan
Graham's Sweetheart

"Alwana Vaughan was not my grandmother by blood, but she was in spirit. I can't remember a single play I did growing up that she was not at. She had been my mother's music teacher - as she was to the whole town of Graham, TX - but she was so much more than that. She had no children of her own, so she adopted the entire city. She filled it with music. She taught all the kids the old dances she knew as a child. She taught etiquette lessons when even those started to be forgotten.

She made some pretty bold claims: -1 That she wrote the echo-refrains for Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. -2 That she was personal friends with Judy Garland. - 3 That she rode on a train going into Mineral Wells sitting next to Eleanor Roosevelt. And you know what? I believe every single one of them.

One of my favorite memories of her is the fact that even though she was most certainly of a generation much different than ours, and grew up with music vastly different than what we have today, to her, if it was music, it was art.

Alwana, you are missed by people across the globe. You are missed by an entire city. We are lucky to have had you with us for these 101 years!!!" - Graham Skipper