My dear sweet mama went home to be with the Lord yesterday, Friday, February 29, 2008 at 2:00 pm. While it was very hard to let her go, it was an answer to our prayers. Since Papa Mutt died in December, it seems that Mama had lost her will to live. She wouldn't eat, didn't sleep hardly at all, was in pain a great deal of the time, and just seemed lost in general with out Papa Mutt to ground her. These photos were taken this summer at a cousin's reunion. In the first one, Mama fell asleep sitting up which is what she did most of the time since Papa Mutt died. The other is of Mama with her brother, Tom and sister, Des.
This last week of her life was unbearable for her. She had been in the hospital with pneumonia, a kidney stone in each kidney, bloating in her stomach, congestive heart failure and several other medical things wrong with her that I didn't understand, but she died with all her family around her and all of us singing hymns - she loved to sing and had the most beautiful voice until the end when she couldn't talk anymore...the only time she seemed alive since Papa Mutt died was when she was in church singing or at the nursing home singing with different groups who would come in to sing with the residents and she knew every word of every song and she sang out with that beautiful, clear soprano voice. When the preacher quoted a scripture, she quoted it right along with him and when he asked a question, she answered it right out loud! She did love the Lord and I am so grateful that she taught me to love Him, too. I was talking today with my sister and brothers about how we had a "drug" problem when we were kids...Mama drug us to church every time the doors were open and to gospel meetings and singings every where in the Mississippi Delta and usually by herself because Daddy didn't become a Christian until I was in college.

You know, I know she's singing with the angels and she is not hurting anymore and that is exactly what we prayed for and we told her while she was laying in that hospital bed that she could go and that we would be OK....and we will be, but the moment she took that last breath, I wanted to take it all back...only I don't want her back the way she was but the way I knew her when I was growing up...always singing and with a smile on her face, taking care of us and taking care of our friends and others...Yep, God does answer prayers and sometimes He gives you exactly what you ask for and when you get it, you're not always ready for it! What fickle humans we are!