This viral photo has a Myrtle Beach SC connection. It’s about being “beyond blessed.”

One family had the opportunity to share their story of six generations gathering together recently. All six generations got together and visited with their grandmother in a nursing home in Kentucky, their original home state.

Several hours after meeting the photo went viral. Six generations is rare but even rarer, six generations of women.

MaeDell’s granddaughter, Gracie Snow Howell, who is a resident of Myrtle Beach contacted The Sun News and told us the story.

MaeDell Snow Taylor, who is 98 years old and the family matriarch, got to spend time recently with her daughter, Frances Snow of Fairborn, Ohio; granddaughter, Gracie Howell of Myrtle Beach, SC; great-granddaughter, Jacqueline Leford of Anderson, SC great-great-granddaughter, Jaisline Wilson of Somerset, Kentucky and the latest addition to the family, great-great-great-granddaughter, Zhaviah Danielle Whitaker of Somerset, Kentucky, 7 weeks old at the time. MaeDell will turn 99 this July.

“Growing up for MaeDell was not easy,” Howell said. “She married at 16 years old to Gracie’s grandfather Bill Taylor who was 50 and had ten children of his own. His first wife died having twins at home”.

When Bill remarried MaeDell she took on the role of taking care of all the children, seven of which were still at home.

“Some of them were almost if not already MaeDell’s age,” Howell said.

MaeDell and Bill had 13 children of their own.

Howell explained how her mother Francis tells her stories about life and what it was like back then growing up at home with a houseful of children and none of the luxuries we have.

“MaeDell had a hard life but never complained, she did what she had to do and made due with what she had,” she said.

A typical day meant starting the day before daylight.

”MaeDell would get up and start a fire to warm up the house, go outside and get some eggs and wring some chickens necks, make a hot breakfast every morning and make sure to give the children a hot breakfast before they went off to school,” Howell said. “In the afternoon, once everyone was home she always would have a hot meal ready for them for supper. It wasn’t like today and getting in your car and going down to the grocery store, you made due with what you had.”

MaeDell’s husband Bill Taylor would be gone all week, he worked for the railroad and would only come home on the weekends.

Howell mentioned, “There were no washing machines back then, she would take the washboard down to the pond and wash the clothes.”

Gracie Howell mentioned her grandmother would can thousands of jars of fruits, vegetables and preserves.

“Grandma’s tomato preserves ... she made the best, and they are my fondest memory of her,” Howell said. “After she fell, she wasn’t able to can anymore, so I canned some last Summer using her recipe. At 58, this was my very first time ... and it was a lot of hard work. But, I couldn’t have been more proud as I handed her a jar of tomato preserves a couple of weeks ago. It was wonderful that she passed something so special down to me and I will pass it down to Zhavia; a perfect example of traditions going full circle.”

MaeDell lived moment to moment and got through each moment not thinking about what comes next, going to bed at night and getting up the following day and starting all over again.

MaeDell has instilled in the women in the family the importance of a strong work ethic and being present for children and family.

Gracie Howell mentioned that her mother, Frances Snow has described her mother, MaeDell as a virtuous woman and a perfect description of her life would be Proverbs 31 which tells us the ideal woman is virtuous, strong, and selfless. She does not wait to be served but rises early, even before sunrise.

While MaeDell waits for the birth of yet another great-great-great grandchild, a boy, right now there are a total of 623 descendants, including 13 biological children, 47 biological grandchildren, 104 biological great-grandchildren, 64 biological great-great-grandchildren and 3 biological great-great-great grandchildren.

This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 1:14 PM.