(from last year)

The story behind the story.  Bobbie Catoe, my Mama, is the smartest, strongest woman I know and the most loving.

Let me add here that my Mama is an angel.  I watched her take care of Uncle Sonny for the past ten years.  She helped him keep his home until he could not afford it anymore and then she gave him the trailer in her backyard to live in.  When his health was such that he could not drive a car anymore, she helped him get a golf cart - a sporty golf cart.  She made that trailer into a home and looked after him until his health needs required him to be put in a nursing home. Then she made Room 121 at White Oak Manor into a home.  She did the paperwork to get him in the VA hospital for services, filed for his veteran's benefits for him, did the paperwork so he could receive his meds from the VA, helped him get his disability benefits, and fought many battles on his behalf that no one will ever know about.  She had to play the game at the end with White Oak and Springs Memorial that allowed him to keep his room at White Oak when the hospital stays exceeded the quota.  She is smart.  She is determined.  She lugged the wheelchair around with her when she took him to the many hospital, doctor's visits and VA appointments.  One of the most poignant moments I recall was when I was driving them to the VA on I-77 before the amputations.  He was in the front passenger seat, and mama could read his body language.  She told me to pull off at the next exit and she got out and rubbed the cramps out of his legs.  She just knew.  Intuitive.  Plugged-in - in the way that the great spiritual teachers tell us we should be.  I'm not talking about the internet or smart phones.  I'm talking about that invisible cord that connects us to each other and it vibrates with a subtle hum that only the spiritually awake can hear and feel.  My Mama is that advanced.  I've read so many spiritual books, but they pale in comparison to what she teaches with her life every single day.  A very beautiful scene from "It's A Wonderful Life" has God speaking to Clarence, an angel sent down to help George Bailey so Clarence could earn his wings.  Clarence asks God, "Is George Bailey sick?"  God replies, "No, it's much worse.  He's discouraged."

My mama held back the dark cloud of discouragement for Uncle Sonny with her countless visits, bringing treats, doing his laundry, bringing peppermint candy until he could not even eat that anymore.  The best thing she did was her daily reminder to him that despite this aggressive disease that took his legs and his ability to speak and eat that he was still Sonny and that as long as he was alive she would not let him forget that or forsake him.  She sat with him through the last night of his life holding his hand until he took his last breath.  She was whispering words of hope, acceptance, encouragement right to the end.  Then she took care of the details.  And with all that going on, she still gave us (who call her Mama, Grandma, or Aunt Bobbie) the best Christmas ever.

Clarence was sent back to earth to earn his wings.  I have no doubt that my Mama's wings are already waiting for her in Heaven.

January 1, 2016