unexpected farewells and trust...

My mother died today... My Uncle Nick called me at work and told me that she had passed.. .she was in the hospital .. and had called my Aunt the night before saying she was fine... and going home.. and then this morning she died...maybe she meant..going home for real...

My sweet Tim came to get me from work... and as we were driving home.. double rainbows appeared up North... bright ....colorful..complete rainbows.. and I realized that my mother was telling me she was in the light.. the colors..again a beautiful dark haired girl from West Virginia... a coal miners daughter ...a real one.. the eldest of a huge brood of wild children...

Every mother ~ daughter has their ups and downs..my mother and I share many traits ...so we have had our share of ups and downs....but I started to smile thinking of her exploits and things she did... so as my tribute to my mother.. that beautiful dark haired girl from West Virginia I must share this one..

My sweet Tim is not Italian or Catholic and when we first married he did not want to open presents on Christmas Eve...

well in my house ...growing up.. we always opened Santa's presents on Christmas Eve after midnight mass...because Santa would come while we were at church and after church we would head for home..we would fly out of the car....run to the door .. fling it open and HOLY COW... Santa had been there... 

We always started the evening off at my grandmother's and I was at least 16 before I realized...all my uncles and my dad were disappearing off and on during the evening to go home and put out toys before mass...  it was my shared secret....none of the other grand kids knew this .... I had become an ADULT... 

When my mother realized that I had married a heathen that would not open presents until Christmas Day..she just was not having it and broke out the artillery..  my sweet Tim starting receiving letters from Santa, Elves, the Mafia, the Pope and everyone else.... telling him basically he was going to go to Hell...if he did not let Carol's daughter Marilynne open gifts on Christmas Eve... all in the same handwriting of course.. different stationary appropriate to the "group" that had sent it.  

So a compromise was made... we opened my mother's presents to us on Christmas Eve.. every year..and all the others on Christmas Day..and the fact that one year she sent Tim blow up red clown shoes only made it more fun...

I trust in my savior and I have a vision of her ..the beautiful dark haired West Virginia girl ..the coal miner's daughter...laying in God's arms.. no pain... no anger..knowing she was and is loved.. asking him... "when do you open presents?"

He better tell her Christmas Eve..  

for Carol Sue ~ always loved ~ always the beautiful dark haired West Virginia girl...