My mother passed away in Feburary 2004 three days after my dad. It was the day of his funeral and it was going to be in the afternoon and she died around 10:00 a.m..
They had been married 62 years and in would have been 63 years.
When we were there in December she had told my dad that she was ready to go home and as she had Alzheimer's he thought that she was confused and didn't think that she knew where she was because she was at their home and many time she didn't know where she was. She looked at my dad and said not this home but that home pointing upward. She was ready for the eternal home, dad said can you hold on a little while and she replied that yes she could.
It was like she just knew that he was gone and she willed herself to go to. We had both together in the same room for her viewing and they were both in the Chapel for her funeral. They would have loved hearing the grandchildren sing at their funeral, I don't know how they did it but it was what they would have wanted.
They were both laid to rest at the Graveyard on Jefferson Rd. beside each other, just like they had stood beside each other for 62 years.
My mother was the middle child of five children, and she grew up in a big city and it was a change to come and live in a small town I'm sure.
I had an Uncle that told a story about my mother when she first came to Commerce, and several times per week she was wanting to serve a meat with her meal and he told her, Polly, this is a small town not the big city and here we are lucky if we get meat on Sunday. Some how she adjusted to a small town and we enjoyed growing up in a community of family and friends.
My dad's mother our Grandmother would go with my mother when she collected for the store. In the country area there were plenty of dirt roads with wooden bridges and some were even covered bridges.
Before my Grandmother would let my mother drive across the bridge, she would make my mother get out and walk across the bridge and back to the car before she would ride over the bridge in the car. I always thought that this was so funny because she wasn't very bid and the car with us in it, it's weight was always more. But she knew that she was satisfied and then she would let her drive over the bridge. Some roads may have several bridges on it and she would do this on every bridge.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Joseph O. Waters Sr.
This month on the fifteenth will be the day that my dad died. He had, had an aneurysm and had never been in the hospital overnight until this happened. It is hard to believe that he has been gone for ten years.
When he was in the hospital those last days we were told that he was blinded by the aneurysm and that he would not be able to speak. We were all gathered beside his bed and he spoke one word and he said baby. I told him that mother was across the hall and that she was doing ok. Then he said you're the baby. With tears rolling down my face I knew that he was still there, we had all heard him speak and we were speechless. When the doctor came in I told him that he had talked and he said that there was know way that this could have happened. We were just wanting him to speak and we thought that he had. I told the doctor you stand here and listen. Daddy was always making up rhymes and poems that he had learned, so I started the one about The Purple Cow. I said I never saw a purple cow, and then I waited and waited and waited and as the doctor started to speak, dad said clear as a bell. "I hope I never see one." This is when the doctor said this is just a miracle that he can do this. So I continued to the next line. "But I can tell you anyhow," and I waited and then dad spoke again, I'd rather see than be one.
The Purple Cow
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I hope I never see one.
But I can tell you anyhow,
I'd rather see, than be one.
As a child we were told this story about the Purple Cow poem. When he was in the second grade they had to learn a poem and recite it before the class the next day. He was going to do a Robert Frost Poem, but when he got home he forgot all about it until he was in class the next day. There was a little girl that set in front of him and she was trying to memorize her poem when the alarm went off that he hadn't memorized a poem. So he kept listening to the little girl trying to learn hers when he memorized it he raised his had to let his teacher know that he was ready to do his poem.
As he stood in front of the class and started to recite his poem the little girl shouted out that that was her poem. When he finished the poem she called the little girl up to say the poem and she didn't have it in her memory yet.
Today as it was raining and we couldn't go outside several of his stories came tumbling back in my memory and Chloe said Poppy why do you look so sad. I explained to her about the stories that my day used to tell us and the fun that we had as a child growing up, and how he loved children and how that she would have loved him, and would have loved to listen to him telling his stories. She said, "Poppy, that why I have you as my grandfather so you can tell me those stories as well as your stories growing up."
The day that we were having my dad's funeral we got a call just before the funeral that my mom had passed away at home. It was bad to lose one parent but another thing altogether to lose them both. The Funeral Home said that it was to late not stop Dad's funeral, but we could hold the burial at the graveside until the next day and we would have mom's viewing that evening while people were still there and we would bury them both the next day after mom's funeral.
When he was in the hospital those last days we were told that he was blinded by the aneurysm and that he would not be able to speak. We were all gathered beside his bed and he spoke one word and he said baby. I told him that mother was across the hall and that she was doing ok. Then he said you're the baby. With tears rolling down my face I knew that he was still there, we had all heard him speak and we were speechless. When the doctor came in I told him that he had talked and he said that there was know way that this could have happened. We were just wanting him to speak and we thought that he had. I told the doctor you stand here and listen. Daddy was always making up rhymes and poems that he had learned, so I started the one about The Purple Cow. I said I never saw a purple cow, and then I waited and waited and waited and as the doctor started to speak, dad said clear as a bell. "I hope I never see one." This is when the doctor said this is just a miracle that he can do this. So I continued to the next line. "But I can tell you anyhow," and I waited and then dad spoke again, I'd rather see than be one.
The Purple Cow
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I hope I never see one.
But I can tell you anyhow,
I'd rather see, than be one.
As a child we were told this story about the Purple Cow poem. When he was in the second grade they had to learn a poem and recite it before the class the next day. He was going to do a Robert Frost Poem, but when he got home he forgot all about it until he was in class the next day. There was a little girl that set in front of him and she was trying to memorize her poem when the alarm went off that he hadn't memorized a poem. So he kept listening to the little girl trying to learn hers when he memorized it he raised his had to let his teacher know that he was ready to do his poem.
As he stood in front of the class and started to recite his poem the little girl shouted out that that was her poem. When he finished the poem she called the little girl up to say the poem and she didn't have it in her memory yet.
Today as it was raining and we couldn't go outside several of his stories came tumbling back in my memory and Chloe said Poppy why do you look so sad. I explained to her about the stories that my day used to tell us and the fun that we had as a child growing up, and how he loved children and how that she would have loved him, and would have loved to listen to him telling his stories. She said, "Poppy, that why I have you as my grandfather so you can tell me those stories as well as your stories growing up."
The day that we were having my dad's funeral we got a call just before the funeral that my mom had passed away at home. It was bad to lose one parent but another thing altogether to lose them both. The Funeral Home said that it was to late not stop Dad's funeral, but we could hold the burial at the graveside until the next day and we would have mom's viewing that evening while people were still there and we would bury them both the next day after mom's funeral.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Happy Valentines Day
Some Cards From The 1950's
Some Cards From The 1940's
Some Cards From The 1930's
Some Cards From The 1920's
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Happy New Year!
A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~ Edgar Guest ~
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~ Edgar Guest ~
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Merry Christmas
The Wreath Is On The Door
The wreath is on the door
And the snow is on the tree
God has laid His holy hands
On all that we can see.
Be quick to raise your voice
And praise what He has brought.
Keep now His love in every choice
And Christmas in every thought.
Merry Christmas
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
