...blood is thicker than water

Me at age 2

The old torn knee is sitting here with me telling me that it’s a darn good thing I’m getting her taken care of in 6 days. I ‘m up again really early but this time I’ve had a few naps. I know, I told you I don’t nap.  Yesterday was one of those days that I want to forget but also one of those days that I’m really glad happened for a lot of reasons.

My Great Aunt Becky died yesterday after fighting a very long battle with Alzheimer’s at the age of 93. She was the matriarch of our family for quite a few years now. Now, this is very important if you are a southern girl. Well, if you are a southern girl, there are a lot of things that aren’t important to the rest of the world that are important to us. But, we’ll hold that thought for another time. Today I’m going to share a little about my crazy but wonderful family.

Aunt Becky had a hard life. She was younger than my grandmother, Elizabeth, (Nana) who I’m named after. Everyone from that generation had it hard, that’s for sure. Becky lost her husband when her kids were young and proceeded to raise my two cousins, Camille and (Elizabeth)Libbie, on her own. She was a very good and compassionate RN.  I used to hear stories from my mom, who was also semi-raised by her because my grandmother was a bit of a nut and very self-absorbed.  I think part of why I wanted to become a nurse myself was Aunt Becky. Her crisp white outfit was so impressive. When I was little, she was larger than life. She "pinned" me at my LPN graduation, the highest honor a nurse can bestow on another. She was already losing her faculties when I received my RN.

Aunt Becky when she came to "Pin" me

When she was in her 50’s, Becky went back to school and got her Master’s in Nursing. Pretty darn amazing, if you ask me.  She raised two great girls, too. Camille went to engineering school and used to design topographical maps before she moved to northern GA to escape the rat race.  Libbie is a real brain, I’ve lost count of the master’s degrees she’s acquired over the years. She runs a huge part of the Online Computer Library Center in OH which produces and maintains WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world. Like I said, Becky did pretty well for a single mom in the 60’s and 70’s.

I guess I should mention that Camille is only 9 months younger than me and Libbie is two years older.  Being my Great Aunt, you might have thought her daughters would be much older.  I have an aunt and uncle who are also near my age.  My grandmother, Nana, had two sets of kids.  My Uncle Charles and my mom, Patricia,  were the first set and then many years later, Nana had (Clifford) Kip and (Rebecca)Becca. Becca is only 6 years older than me and I think Kip is 4 years older.

We all played together as children. Our parents loved dressing all of us alike, I have many pictures of that…gosh we were cute little towheads back then! For me, they were my siblings…as I am an only child.  Into the mix, we absolutely must acknowledge Chuck and Rick, my Uncle Charlie’s boys, who were also in the big play group. I had another cousin, Jack, who was my age, but he was killed in a car accident when he was 16 on a date with my best friend from high school. The rear axle of the car came off and he was thrown from the vehicle. My best friend at the time, Jenny, is now wheelchair bound for life from the accident.

So, I’ve given you a sketchy background of the generation I’ve grown up with. Tuck it away for later use as I will pull all these folks out from time to time.

I was on my way to Sheridan for all my pre-op stuff yesterday when Cam called me with the news of Becky’s death. Thankfully, I had Sherry, one of my dearest friends, driving me because of my knee. I’m very glad I wasn’t alone.  Cam said that she and Libbie had dressed beforehand in matching outfits, just like Becky used to do to them when they were little.  They went into her room and sat and told her all the things that needed saying and then they both gently told Becky that it was okay to go, they’d be fine, it was time to reunite with the Lord. Camille says that two minutes later, Becky left this realm. Wow, I’m crying again, that’s just so beautiful. Cam had called me the night before when she was racing to beat the clock to get to Becky’s bedside in OH from GA after the doctors had said there was little time left.  I was up all night praying that Becky would hold on so Camille could see her one last time. It all worked out as best as it could. Becky really hasn't been with us for many years due to the alzheimer's. Libbie has been taking care of her in OH, keeping her in a nursing home nearby and visiting her often, despite no recognition from Becky in quite some time.

We’re going to have a memorial get-together in Birmingham for Becky. It will be great to see all my cousins and aunts and uncles again.  There are a few of these characters I haven’t seen in person in many years. Thanks to Facebook, we are all connected pretty well again, though and keep up with each other's lives.  Becky would be really happy that she’s getting us all together.  The girls still haven’t decided exactly when, they are thinking Becky’s birthday which is March 22^nd or Mother’s Day for the get-together.

If you aren’t from a southern family, you might not understand what this big get-together means…There will be many nights of staying up all night laughing and arguing about the family tree. Our tree has magnificent roots. My Nana did the geneology back some 500 years  (or more, I can't remember, back to Alexander the Great and Charlemagne, anyway) on us. We first came to America long before the Mayflower in the early 1600’s and settled first in Fleur D’Hundred, a plantation in Virginia and then the family worked its way down to the Montgomery, AL area.  Our first American was a doctor, Dr Woodson, who came here and settled with his wife and two boys in the 1630's.  He’d go off to take care of the other settlers during the day with his horse and carriage. One day, Indians attacked the house and his wife hid the two boys…one under a woodpile and one in a potato hole.  The boys survived the attack and we all now identify ourselves as “woodpile Woodsons” and “potato hole Woodsons”, depending on which boy you are descended from. Gosh, there are sooo many stories.  I just can’t wait to hear them all again. 

During the Civil War, our family did own slaves. A lot of my lullabies as a child were old slave songs that were passed down. I was a little aghast when I was older and singing songs to myself and realizing some of the words are not quite appropriate for this day and age. (Swing low, Sweet Chariot...Ole Black Joe..had no teeth for to eat the corn bread, he's going where the good darkies go) One such tradition, my Mom and I still practice to this day. Back then, the little slave girl would go wake the little girl of the house on Christmas morning.  Whoever said “Christmas Gift” first, got a present.  I still call my mom every Christmas and the first words out of my mouth are “Christmas Giff”.   These things  are a part of my heritage and I can’t deny them. During the war, the family had the slaves bury all the good china and other valuables out in the cotton fields when they heard the Yankees were marching on Montgomery.  Being proud Southerners, it never occurred to them that they might lose the war….well, we all know history, right?  The slaves were freed and no one in the family knew where the Haviland china  was buried! My mother is in possession of the china now, although they never did find the dinner plates.  Someone’s gonna hit the jackpot down there some day, if they haven’t already! Mom and I looked into having Haviland reproduce the plates but it was astronomical in price. They are hand painted and rimmed in gold.

Sorry to take you on such a long journey this morning, I could go on and on and probably will from time to time over the next few months.  I have only peeled back a tiny strip of the rich history of my family.  I think you really have to know about the people who came before you to understand yourself.

God Bless Aunt Becky and all of my family.  They are a little nutty but they are mine and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. If we’re lucky, Becca will comment with some of her own stories, she is now the family historian. She was already connecting all the dots for me when I called her with the news yesterday. Libbie and Cam had asked me to call the rest of the family as they needed time to be sisters yesterday.

Last I talked with them last night, Cam and Libbie had popped a champagne bottle in Becky’s honor and were trying to decide which relative she was talking to up in Heaven..  I’m just sure she’s having a royal time!

Have a great day, folks and give some of your elderly relatives a call…they are treasures you will lose someday soon…