june 3, 1920...

i like to imagine it was a day much like today, a day with a hint of cool in the air, still-- with the heavy promise of  early summer on this day in 1920 when my sweet mama made her debut into this cold cruel world.  she was a twin, her sister the more dominant, the heartier of the two. it is said that they weighed just over 2 pounds each.  even in 2013, with all the advances available, a baby born that small is in a fight to survive those first days and weeks, to live to see all that life might have in store.

my mom and her sister were the last of 11 born to parents who had come to dawson county in texas in a covered wagon.  grandmother was not well after the births, the babies were tended by their older sister who it is said kept them in a box set on the oven door to keep them warm.  a crude incubator of sorts, if you will, but it worked.  the girls went on to happy and productive lives.

after dad died, mom was diagnosed with failure to thrive so we moved her to little a-town to be closer to family.  after my younger sister was born she had a rough spell and spent some time in the state hospital.  looking back she probably had postpartum depression and not a true psychosis. after her release the spark just wasn't there like before.

shortly after she moved up here, she went into vivian's nursing home where she spent her last years in relative happiness.  it was perfect for her.  not one of the taj mahal places, there she came into her own a bit.  she had people to help her.  some one to cook and clean up after, someone to say 'today is bath day, let's get you washed up' and all those other residents bidness to to get up into.  it became her home.

i visited the night before she died.  nothing seemed amiss. whatever happened during the night, she simply wouldn't wake the next morning.  by that afternoon, she had gone on to be with her lord,
all her trespasses and travails done, a quiet passing on to her eternal reward. 

so on this day, which marks the day of her birth 93 years ago, i'm thinking of my mama and knowing that today is a good day, for it is a day the lord has made. she is in good hands.

i miss you mama.

aio