The Day Before..

I am calling this post "The Day Before" because this is just that.. A distinct memory I have of the day before by mother died.. It was a Thursday.. I had talked to Daddy that afternoon on the phone, after school let out, while on the way to picking Tyler up from school.. I asked Daddy how Mama was doing and he told me she wasnt doing well, that she was going to be in the bed until she dies and that she wasnt eating or drinking much.. Up until that morning, she was still taking her pills and drinking her coffee when she woke up.. Daddy said she didnt want them that morning.. I remember feeling sick at my stomach after hanging up and after picking Tyler up, I went to CVS and bought make up to make me feel better.. It didnt.. I went home and told Steve that I didnt have a good feeling and that I felt Mama was within a day or two of dying and told him that I NEEDED to go see her that night.. My sister called me and told me I should probably come over since she was talking and all but that if I needed to talk to her, this might be the last time I could, while she was still "with it".. I told my kids and my two youngest sons opted not to go.. My oldest son, Whit, 21, and his best friend, Drew decided to go see "MawMaw".. Drew was close to my mother as well.. I will share my favorite sweet moment with Whit and Drew in a moment..

When I got to my parents house, my sister was there.. Daddy had gone to the store to pick up some supplies.. Mama was very happy to see me and Steve and really lit up when Whit and Drew came to see her.. She immediately started talking about how they needed to work on the song she had written.. Her voice was getting more and more hoarse and weak at this point.. We all knew she wouldnt be working on any song, but the boys were so sweet.. They both just stood there and said " yes ma'am".. And even discussed what they wanted to do with the song, just to appease her.. It made her feel good.. After a while, we left the boys alone with Mawmaw so they could visit.. I realized later that Whit and Drew were basically saying their "goodbyes"..

Ok.. here are my favorite memories of Whit and Drew.. First memory: We had been in the living room, talking and left Drew alone with Mama.. Steve went in to check on them and he found Drew sitting next to the bed, holding Mama's hand, just chatting.. It brought her alot of peace.. Drew was so sweet to do that.. He called her MawMaw, and had for like 4 years.. He was one of MawMaw's "adopted" grandsons..  He was even invited to the beach with the family, 2 years in a row, until Mama was diagnosed with cancer.. I found this moment very moving..

Another moment was when Whit went into her room, all by himself.. Whit is ALOT like me, when it comes to dealing with things.. He was in a denial of sorts, like me.. And he didnt like to discuss the whole "death" thing.. It took ALOT for him to go in there and basically say goodbye to his MawMaw.. Whit was her oldest grandchild.. They had been through alot.. Mama would fondly recall the time we were all snowed in during the "Blizzard of 1993" when Whit was almost 3.. He was driving her nuts because we were snowed in and he wanted to basically JUMP off her stairs that led up to the den.. LOL  She fussed at Whit and he went up to "G"(daddy) and said  in his cute little 3 yr old voice " I dont yike MawMaw" to which MawMaw exclaimed " Well I dont like you very much right now either!!!"  HAHAHA  This was ALSO the time Whit would stand on the steps and say " Doo doo MawMaw doo-doo MawMaw".. LOL  He loved to irritate.. We even laughed about it during her last few weeks.. I have no idea what was said between Whit and Mawmaw when he sat beside her but I do remember him saying "Whats up Mawmaw?" in a very nervous sounding voice.. He did very good with his emotions and I KNOW it made Mama feel good knowing he came over to see her.. Moments like this made me very proud of my son and THANKFUL he got to do this..