Yes, my Mamma Velle was 86 but that doesn't make losing her any easier as some might think. It's so hard to know where to begin so I guess I'll start with childhood and work my way up. My earliest memories of my Mamma Velle were at her home in North Richland Hills, TX. I will never forget that house as long as I live. There was a tree in the front yard that was perfect for climbing. Then there was the Winnebago motor home that my cousins and I turned into our clubhouse each time I visited. Most grandparents wouldn't allow their grandkids in their motorhome unsupervised...mine did. In the picture below is (top L-R) my cousin Tina and I (bottom L-R) my cousin Tiffany, her daughter Kambree, and Mamma Velle.
I remember the blue shag carpet. I remember the telephone in the kitchen that had a cord so long you could go anywhere in the house to talk. I remember that back before she quit smoking you could find a lit cigarette in every room of the house :) She was a tiny little thing but she had lots of pep! Each time we saw her she would give Justin an update on her height...on her last update she had shrunk to 4' 11" :) You can tell just how tiny she was from the picture below! L-R Papaw Wayne, my mom, my sister Sheri, my sister Tracey, my Dad, and Mamma Velle.
I remember the backyard always full of plants. My sister described it well when she said it was a mini-jungle! There was nothing my Mamma Velle couldn't grow! Including things she wasn't supposed to :) I heard a story for the first time the other day as we were gathered in her hospital room and I have to share it because it's so funny! My Mamaw used to get her soil from some lot in the neighborhood. 7 tomato plants shot up after she put this soil in her backyard and eventually grew to be 6 feet tall each! However, my Mamma was perplexed as to why they would not produce tomatos! One day my uncle came over and my Mamma was showing him her unproductive plants. My uncle started laughing and informed her that what she was growing in her backyard between her house and the baptist church behind her were not tomato plants....but marijuana! She wanted to burn them but someone convinced her that if she did the whole neighborhood would get high :)
My uncle told a story the other day at the hospital about the time he and my Mamma and Papaw went fishing. My Papaw kept getting dangerously close to my Mamma as he cast his lure. My uncle said that she was steadily fussing at him about it and he was steadily telling her that she was in no danger. Well...after a bit of time he cast her wig into the lake :) She was furious and after he reeled it in she plopped it back on her head and continued to chew on him! I remember the picture of the geese flying above her couch. Then there were the blue couches, the blue dishes, the blue walls, the blue bathtub and toilet...it was very evident that blue was her favorite color!
I remember summertime visits at their farm. I never had more fun in my life than when i visited their farm! My cousins and I walked the dirt roads, found abandoned animals and tried nursing them back to health, made dress-up clothes (skimpy ones) and talked my Mamaw into wearing them, in the front yard, and letting us take pictures of her!! Christmas was always so fun with Mamma! You could look on the bottom of your package and know what you were getting before you even opened it (she wrote what it was in pencil). I will never forget the time my 18 year old cousin got a kite...or the year I got a lava lamp :) We had our last Christmas with Mamma just a couple of weeks ago. She gave all of us girls these beautiful necklaces with black diamonds...i will treasure that necklace for as long as i live.
Mamma Velle loved to scrapbook! She had tons of books at her house. In my father's scrapbook she did a page for me and each of my siblings. On my page is a picture of Justin's ex-girlfriend (she thought it was me! How ironic huh?) but it was those little things about her that made me love her so much! Mamma loved her hats and jewelry! She almost never went without them! At her funeral most of the girls in the family wore one of her hats in honor of her. She even took one with her to the grave :) Below is a picture of the hat that I wore.
She came to as many games as she could to watch me cheer. She was at my h/s graduation, my wedding, the birth of my son.
I feel like there is such a hole in my life now. I am so thankful that I was able to go see her Tuesday night before she passed away. She couldn't talk because she was on a ventilator but she could nod and she even tried to laugh a couple of times. I'll never forget the sadness of that day as we were all gathered around her hospital bed holding her hand and saying our final goodbyes. Her family meant everything to her and I'm glad she passed away surrounded by family. Below is a picture of her with 2 of my nieces.
Mamma Velle had tons of these little ceramic figurines and when we went to visit her a couple of weeks ago for Christmas Hudson knocked the lid off of one and it broke. The night before her surgery I called and talked to her for probably over an hour and apologized repeatedly for the broken jar lid. She laughed it off and told me that she had already glued it back together and for me not to worry about it. She told me that none of her posessions meant more to her than her kids and grandkids. I'll never forget that. What a profound statement. Below is a picture of Mamma Velle about a week before she passed away.
I could write about her for days. I feel like I already have and you probably do too :) She was just such a special and unique lady and I will miss her more than I can ever express in words. I hope that I always keep my family as close to my heart as she did hers.
