My mother Laura always the Christian lady, kind and considerate, sweet and charming.  Her smile, a bit crooked- nonetheless; adorable.  Momma loved her flower garden and took great pride in her home.  She was the neighborhood candy maker during Christmas holidays.  Christmas was her favorite time of year as shown by the lights, glitter and garland with which she decorted inside and out. She enjoyed so much having the family gather at her home for Christmas dinner.  

My mother was handicapped from birth, but her handicap did not stop her. She did not learn to drive a car until after my dad passed away...she was 50 when daddy died with cancer in 1973.  After daddy died momma devoted her time in sewing, baking and driving her car.  She had three close companions, her three grandsons.  After daddy's death momma found her completness in those three boys.

Momma lived alone after her mother whom she had taken care of for many years, passed away.  She had absolutely no interest in dating or remarrying.  She loved my dad...until the day she died.

Because it is the Christmas season, I am reminded of cherrished  memories I shared with my mother every Christmas.  Her last Christmas, or the one she remembered was in 2002.  We had a wonder time together.  2003 she was hospitalized with MRSA and shortely after that she began acting out of charcter.  She talked about her mother or my dad coming to visit.  Her words at times were scrambled and she told me she was losing her mind.

She was diagnosed with that ugly mind thief who instilled bizzare thoughts in her mind. Alz's most demeaning trick of all was instilling a thought in her mind that a man was killing her children.  During a phone conversation she told me she watched the man shoot my brother in the head.  She forewarned me that he would come to my house and kill me as well.  I constructed a story and my brother agreed to tell her the same story.  We told her the man had been arrested in California and would be locked up for the remainder of his life.  After telling her the story, she was relieved and never again mentioned the "murderer."

Momma never lost her beautiful personality and had a smile for everyone who entered her room.  The director of the nursing facility told me when she had a bad day she would go to my mother's room just to see her beautiful smile.

Momma had the honor of spending her final days in the same room with her best friend.  They had been friends for over fifty years.  Her friend lost her sight and suffered from Alzheimers.  Momma believed the reason they were in the same room was because her friend needed momma to take care of her.  Momma tried until she became bed fast.

Jesus tip-toed into momma's room on June 23,2011 and carried her away to be with him in heaven.

Her journey was long and tiring and ended on the corner of Forgetfulness and Who are You Avenues. 

When she lay on the pillowed satan of her coffin, she had that familiar smile on her face...a smile I locked inside my heart.