My Mama’s graduation picture 1964
Today, 11 years ago, my Mama passed away.  I was 30 years old at the time.  It goes without saying, I still needed her really badly.  At first, I was in a pretty big shock.  All of a sudden, I did not have anyone to tell me what to do.  How do you live like that?  I never had to give one thought to how I was going to do this or that.  I had my Mama there to tell me what was best.  I cannot tell you the times I have sat & pondered, “If my Mama was here, what would she say for me to do?”

There was a lot of things my Mama was.  She was a Christian, first & foremost.  She was the BEST mother you could ever imagine.  She loved us beyond anything I could have ever asked for.  She loved to cook & was a great cook.  She would always see the bright & good side of things.  She had a wonderful sense of humor & knew how to make people feel at ease around her.  She loved people & being with her family.  She went to church all her life.  She went when she would have my Daddy get her ready, pick her up, put her in the van, & then push her in the church in her wheelchair.  She worked hard all her life.  She was a wonderful housekeeper.  I can remember she would keep a vacuum cleaner in the closet in our foyer.  She vacuumed the entry way EVERY DAY.  It’s funny the things you remember about people.  She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1987.  She fought the hardest of anyone I have ever seen with a disease.  She & I were very close.  She was very close to my brother, too.  She was just like that.

Today, I just want to take a minute to say- I miss my Mama.