Just over a year ago, a friend of mine posted a picture on one of her social media accounts that caught my attention. But it wasn't the...
I thought about her all day today.
It's been four years. February 7, 2017. It was a Tuesday. The big kids were at school that morning, and I was home with Ellie. Mama called and said it was time and that she thought I probably needed to come home. MeMama wasn't much longer for this earth. I packed my suitcase and dropped Ellie off with Seth's parents. I didn't want to leave without first talking to Mason and Hannah Kate to explain to them what was going on so I sat in the parking lot at school until I saw them come out. After I talked to them, Seth's mom picked them up, and I started the drive to Georgia. Seth would catch a flight to Atlanta the following day.
I remember wishing it wasn't so long of a drive and hoping I'd make it in time. I remember expecting my dad to call at any minute telling me I hadn't made it in time. I remember my sweet friend calling when she got off work and staying on the phone with me for nearly two hours during the longest part of the drive through Alabama. I remember being so excited when I finally got to Montgomery because I was starving, and I'd waited to eat on purpose so I could stop at Schlotzsky's for a sandwich. I remember finally pulling up in the driveway. It was late, but the lights were on for me. I walked in the door fully expecting my parents to tell me she was gone. But they didn't. I wanted to go see her right then, but they thought we all needed to get some rest first. It wasn't long after that when the nurse called. And that was it.
Gosh. I miss her. I wrote all about her here. As I read back through that blog post, I'd forgotten so much of what I'd written. I'm so glad I wrote it down. I thought of all those same stories today.
Fishing.
Red lipstick and rouge and nail polish.
Ramen noodles.
Ear bobs.
Crocheted blankets.
Mud pies.
Snapping beans and shucking corn.
Checkers.
There are so many things I'd talk to her about today. I've always wondered what, if anything, she remembered about the Spanish Flu. She was only a very little girl at the time, but did she remember anything her parents might have told her about it? I'd ask her how she felt that day she left Tifton with Aunt Gail to move to Atlanta after her first husband died. And how she felt after she moved to the farm with my Granddaddy. How long did it take for that to feel like "home?" I'd ask her to teach me how to clean a fish and debone a chicken. I'd ask her to teach me how to make biscuits. I'd ask her for her best gardening tips, though I'm sure that would be a better question for Granddaddy. I'd ask her to take me fishing. I wouldn't ask her to teach me to crochet though because been there done that many times, and that just wasn't my thing. I never could make a straight row, much less two!
She was one of a kind. And I'm so so glad she was my MeMama!