Monday, August 16, 2010

'Til We Meet Again, Aunt Betty


I never knew my Aunt Betty very well. I remember some things about her when I was little. I remember starting to a new school when we lived in Louisiana. It was the same school she went to so she showed me to my classes. I was so scared and remember crying but it was comforting to know there was one person I knew there.
We moved back to Mississippi just a few days after school started. I don't remember seeing her again for a lot of years later. In fact around 45 years went by before I saw her again.
William and I decided I should visit my Louisiana Aunts and Uncles so I asked Aunt Shirley if she would get Aunt Betty to come see us. When we arrived, Aunt Betty was waiting to see us and she spent the weekend visiting with all of us.
It was so good to get to see her and talk with her about her children. She has seven children and their names all begin with an R. I've never met any of them and probably couldn't remember all their names......Rocky, Randy, Robin, Reed, is as far as I can go.
That's sad to me. These people are my first cousins and I've never met them. Nor have I ever seen pictures of them. Some of them aren't too much younger than I am. Then again, maybe they are quite a bit younger than I am after all I'm only seven years younger than Aunt Betty.
We got to see her on our 2009 trip to Louisiana. We talked a lot about gardening and raising animals. I was so surprised to find out that she had a love for both.
She looked a lot like my Grandma Teasley. She had a quiet way about her just as Mamaw Teasley did too. She favors my Daddy too. Aunt Shirley says that she and Daddy were just like Mamaw Teasley in their kind, low-keyed ways. :)
Aunt Betty was a hard worker. She worked to support her children by waiting tables. That's a job! Not that I've ever done it but I know standing on your feet all day is tiring because I have done that.
When we went to Louisiana this year, Aunt Betty was putting peas in the freezer and also she was having problems with her legs so she wasn't able to come to Uncle Max and Aunt Jackie's home for the lunch get together.
I thought about going to see her while we were in LA but never even mentioned it to William. Now, I'm sorry I didn't go because the opportunity won't come again.
I won't be able to sit across the table and talk while she eats tamales. Nor will I get to give her another hug...Not here on earth anyway. I will miss her when we go to visit our other aunts and uncles. There will be an empty place at the table from now on.
We should take every opportunity to see those we love, to spend time with them and if we don't know them very well to get to know them and what their lives have been like. Learn all we can about those we care about for one day memories will be all we have.
Aunt Betty, I'm sorry I didn't know you any better but I can say what I do know about you.....I love. Until we meet again....
I hope there are tamales in Heaven!

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