A big part of that happiness resulted from the time we spent with family around the Christmas holiday. Specifically the Christmases at Grandma Martin’s house… for a week every year that old three story house at the corner of Worcester and Cherry in West Plains, Missouri absolutely came alive with Marty and Gary and Jo and Ken and Jackie and Dad and H.D. and Grandma and Opal and Della, of course, all their kiddos… about 25 of us in all.
Yeah, that is a particularly fond set of memories; even now as I think about those unforgettable days and nights, I can smell Grandma Lucille’s perfume and feel that old floor creak as I walked across it! And I can see H.D. and his toothless grin as he kicks his head back in a belly laugh because of something Uncle Jack said about the hand of pitch cards he was just dealt…
I hear a lot of laughing… yeah, we laughed… a LOT! And we played a lot of cards, and pitch was the game of choice. Lots of great food, and lots of gifts under the tree….
But a huge reason those memories are so fond for me is my aunt Joanne… ‘aunt Jo’ was always ready to laugh and smile and hug and love. In a very real sense, I learned how to laugh and have fun watching my aunt Jo… an absolutely unashamed and uninhibited soul!
one of my most indelible memories is of Aunt Jo and Aunt Martie singing 'cotton fields' in perfect familial harmony as we all joined in and sang until the song deteriorated into uncontrolled laughter!
When I was a little bitty baby
my momma would rock me in that cradle
in those old cotton fields back home...
Way down in Louisiana
just about a mile from Texarkana
in those old cotton fields back home...
Well when those cotton fields get rotten
you can't pick very much cotton
in those old cotton fields back home
I have a smile on my face right now as I remember them singing that song...
Many years have passed since those days…. And it’s been a long time since that house was as happy as it was then. H.D is gone and Grandma Lucille went Home two years ago. Uncle Jack left us WAY too early at age 38 years old, just as his life was getting fully underway... Opal died a few years ago, and so did Della... and my momma has been Home since 1996.
...and Uncle Ken (aunt Jo’s soulmate and husband of 45 years) died last year, leaving my precious aunt broken.
I haven’t seen Jo in a half a decade at least, and it makes me sad.
So as I was rushing back to the Portland airport to catch a flight on Monday night, I plugged her address into my GPS and followed its voice command to the door of her house a few blocks from the airport to pay her a very unexpected visit. I did not plan to make this pitstop… I expected to have a couple hours at the airport before my flight to respond to emails and make calls and do, you know, really important stuff…
But if I live to be 110 years old, I will never forget the look on her face as she opened her door to find her nephew ‘Timmy’ standing on her door step… she looked at me like I was an apparition…
Then she began to sob… and cried “TIMMY! What are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for my aunt Jo!” I howled and laughed, then we embraced and cried for several minutes… I thought she would hurt me, she hugged me so hard! It was one of the best feelings ever….
It was a short visit, but it was good…. No, it was great!
And I hope she is smiling today a little more than she was a few days ago… I know I am…
I pray that she is finding peace and happiness… she deserves it, for all the happiness she has brought to so many others.
Please hug someone you love today.
Blessings!
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