You better watch out, you better not cry…

This morning I got to visit my gram before heading into work. Her preacher met me at her nursing home and we had the best visit! She was super silly and joyful. She demanded to have the little Christmas tree my mom sent her on the windowsill and the flowers my Uncle from California gave her on the opposite side so we could have beautiful things to look at during the visit. She was quite bossy. 

She also told me the story of adopting my Aunt Sarah. She actually doesn’t typically tell me stories of the past- that was my grandfather’s job and she gets a little mixed up these days with the details. So it was extra special to hear it in her very proper southern accent.

“This is not a happy story,” She said.

I interrupted her to say “It is a happy ending though, right?”

“Yes, yes..” She said dismissively and hushed me so she could continue.

“Sarah’s mother had a husband who was in prison because he was selling whiskey, he had a distillery and he got caught. Well, she was  awfully lonely. So lonely. So she had a man friend come and stay with her and she became pregnant. She was so sad because it was not her husband’s child. She told her doctor what had happened.”

“Well, I was going to school at Boone or maybe it was Lenoir Rhynne at the time and had not been able to stay pregnant. [She had several miscarriages and one was even a tubal pregnancy with twins and she actually survived it.]And that doctor was my doctor and he said, I know about a beautiful baby that is 2 days old and she needs a new home. So we went to the hospital and she has been the greatest joy of our lives. And we went on to have two boys. I couldn’t have my own daughter, so it worked out perfectly. You see, it was a happy ending after all. I believe she loves me very much even though I didn’t create her.”

We finished up our visit and I assured her I would be back very soon. She demanded a pen so she could write letters to people. She said my Aunt has been writing every week and she must write her back. Despite Covid, I feel like we are still able to all communicate and be with each other this time of year.

Here’s the next letter in our series…You all stay safe out there and remember that Santa’s always watching….