Originally named the "Mary Simmons Grocery",this little store used to exist in Mixie, Tennessee, on Highway 77, between Huntingdon, and Paris, TN. My grandparents built it in the early 1960s, just down the road from the Mixie Baptist Church. Mixie only had the store, the church, and a firehouse, surrounded by farms. In true country store fashion, people would come to the store to pick up some groceries, and stick around to visit with my Grandmother, who ran the store. If someone got hungry, they could have my grandmother slice off some bologna, put it between slices of bread, and sell them a sandwich.

When my brothers and I were children, our family would drive down from Wisconsin once or twice a year. Hanging out in the store and being the center of attention when customers came in, is one of our favorite memories.  As the decades passed, more people worked in town and would get their groceries in town before coming home, and Grandma's store went the way of most country stores. I wanted to preserve this part of history by creating this painting.