Mama told me everything would be fine--about the water running down toward my little shoes, about Grama being with Jesus now. That Daddy was coming to help all of us. My daddy was a big man of about 6'3 and 235 lbs. His job was painting houses and building things. He was about a foot taller than Mama, and he had dark hair and hazel eyes. He was a good hugger to me!
Soon he came along on our old car with my brother, and I remember raising up my arms and him scooping me up and squeezing me to his rough cheek..
Then Daddy told my brother to take me on home, and for us to wait there. Everything was a whirl of activity in the days following, visitors, food, a wake, a funeral in the family cemetery just about 20 yards from Grama's house. After that day Sister had come running to our house with her snuff brush sticking out of her mouth. After Mama and I walked up there when Daddy got in, and when I found out somehow, that some people you love die, and sometimes they wet the bed when they do. I never forgot that day.
I felt safe the rest of that day, though. Safe --from the water running toward my feet, safe from very still, silent lady who looked just like my Grama (yet didn't look at all like her), from the confusion from the odd glances and hushed voices between Mama and Sister.
And from the water running -- running not just toward my shoes, but also down all our faces.
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| Sister, Grama, Grandma |
May God bless us, and may we bless one another.
