NATCHEZ — Dietrich Woods knows every August means it’s time to send her granddaughter back to school.

But that doesn’t make the farewell any easier for the Natchez resident.

When The Dart landed on Ram Circle Friday, Dietrich and her granddaughter, Eriuna Woods, were relaxing on the porch after the first week of school.

“I learned some math,” Eriuna said. “Subtracting, adding. That’s all.”

Eriuna, 7, is a student at Frazier Elementary School and joined the thousands of other students in the Miss-Lou who went back to school last week.

Eriuna lives with her grandmother and has most of her life.

Her parents divorced early in her life. Her mom lives in Texas and her dad in Natchez.

“I just felt like at that time, she needed me,” Dietrich said. “She’s my little company keeper.

“I promise you that.”

Dietrich said Eriuna is the first girl she raised, after raising her three sons.

“Boys, you just buy for them and give to them,” Dietrich said. “But girls need to be with you. They need to tell you what shoes goes with what, or what earrings or what dress they like.”

“It’s very different. It was so breezy with my boys.”

Dietrich has been taking care of Eriuna since she was 9 months old.

Eriuna is Dietrich’s first granddaughter, and the young girl grew up spending a lot of time with Dietrich. The two soon became inseparable.

“Even when her mom comes home, she’ll go to her mom’s, but she’ll call me and come right back,” Dietrich said. “She may make it a night, but she won’t barely make two.”

Dietrich now has five more grandchildren, but Eriuna is the only one that lives with her.

Without other children to play with at her grandmother’s house, Eriuna has learned to find fun in the simple things.

“She loves to help me clean up, cook, and wash dishes,” Dietrich said. “She’s tall enough now, but she used to get the chair and pull it up to sink.”

“You know with boys, they are outside playing and stuff. But if I’m fixing to go do something, she’s always there willing to help.”

Dietrich said sending Eriuna off to school was difficult, but August gets easier every year.

“I’m adjusting, I am,” Dietrich said. “It gets easier. When she first went to school, it was like sending my own child off to school. I was in tears.”

Eriuna said she enjoys school. She gets to see her friends and family members, who also go to Frazier.

Dietrich is happy to see her granddaughter spending time with children her own age, and encourages Eriuna to go and have fun with other children when she can.

But letting her go is still not easy.

“It’s bittersweet.” Dietrich said. “It’s kind of lonesome here without her.”